Rory McIlroy hit by more final day wobbles in Malaysia

Italian teenager Matteo Manassero held off challenges from Gregory Bourdy and Rory McIlroy yesterday to win the Maybank Malaysian Open.

A final round of 68 helped Manassero finish 16-under par as the leaders played 27 holes on the final day following weather delays throughout the week.

The 17-year-old became the youngest ever winner on the European Tour when he won the Castello Masters in Spain last year, and his win in Malaysia is now his second win on the tour.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Frenchman Bourdy finished a shot off the lead after carding a final round 67, while McIlroy finished a shot further back after losing from a winning position for the second time in a fortnight following his disastrous final round at The Masters.

An eagle on the par five tenth was the highlight of Manassero's final round, with three birdies and one bogey in his final-round score of four-under par.

He said he was proud of what he had achieved and was happy he would now be playing in the remaining majors of the year.

"It's a great achievement after just 11 months of professional golf," he said. "It's a great achievement for myself and gets me into the majors - I just missed Augusta, but playing the other three will be fantastic."

The Italian believes he has had a great week and is happy with his overall performance.

"I had a really good week from the beginning," he said.

"I didn't miss many shots apart from the second round when I didn't play great but I was still able to finish well and get in contention. I had a really good weekend and managed to get the win."

Manassero also said he will now be looking ahead to picking up more event wins. "I'm really proud of that and the next target will be winning another tournament and keeping the momentum going. It's going well and we'll see what happens," he said.

McIlroy came out on the final day and extended his overnight lead with a birdie on ten. But he was passed by the end of the third round after a double-bogey at the par three 15th left him on par for the round.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Despite another double-bogey and two further bogeys, McIlroy still managed to shoot a final round of 69, but that left him third overall and two shots behind Manassero.

Given his great start to the event, including a second round 64, the Northern Irishman was obviously disappointed. His fade from prominence was less spectacular than the previous weekend, but questions will continue to be asked of the 21-year-old's mental strength after this latest setback.

"At this moment I'm pretty disappointed but it was a good week," he said. "I started off really well in the tournament. To shoot the scores that I did considering the travelling [from Augusta to Malaysia] is a pretty good effort."

But overall the Irishman said he was happy with his response to his crushing disappointment at The Masters the previous week.

"It has been a good week, I enjoyed coming to Kuala Lumpur," he said. "I'm disappointed with the result but everything else was positive. I'm proud of myself at how I picked myself up from last week and the way I came back on the back nine today."

McIlroy, who won his first European Tour event as a 19-year-old, also praised the performance of Manassero.

"Matteo is fantastic. He is a great talent - to get two wins on the European Tour before your 18th birthday is pretty special," he said.

"We've known for a long time that he is a great player and he deserves it."

Related topics: