On the Rise: Why You Need to Know About Matteo Manassero

Can you imagine being considered one of the Top 30 people in the world in your profession at the age of 18?

Golf prodigy Matteo Manassero accomplished just that last year, and is on the rise as one of this generation's brightest young players.

There are some teenage sensations that wind up being flashes in the pan. Ty Tryon is one who springs to mind first.

The difference between Manassero and some is that he has steadily ascended, not rushing to turn pro until he was ready.

As a four-year-old at his home club in Italy, Manassero challenged the late, great Seve Ballesteros to a chipping contest. Shortly thereafter, he holed a chip shot.

It was clear for a long time that Manassero would be ready sooner rather than later.

Here are five reasons to watch out for this kid as golf's next superstar.

Valuable Amateur Experience

Their amateur careers may have been relatively short-lived, but Tiger Woods and Matteo Manassero have comparably impressive accolades.

Tiger stuck with amateur golf while attending college at the University of Stanford, winning the U.S. Amateur a record three consecutive times.

Tiger also received low amateur honors at the 1995 Masters and the 1996 British Open.

Manassero won the British Amateur championship in 2009, and thus qualified for that year's British Open.

For the first two days of the Open, Manassero played alongside Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia. He shot 71-70 for a one over-par total.

Over the weekend, Manassero continued his steady play, finishing in a tie for 13th to win low amateur honors.

At the 2010 Masters, Manassero was the youngest ever to make the cut at Augusta, and again finished as the low amateur.

The fact that Manassero stood up to the pressure of playing with a golf legend—especially when Watson was in the midst of a magical run at Turnberry—is astounding.

That sort of experience is obviously valuable, but Manassero was incredibly dominant from such a young age.

According to amateur-golf.com, Manassero was the No.1-ranked amateur in the world for 18 weeks beginning in December 2010 before turning professional.

He may have had an even more successful amateur career than Tiger, but Manassero simply got too good, too quickly.

Early Professional Success

The impressive amateur record carried over to Matteo Manassero's rookie season on the European Tour.

Wasting no time to make an impact, Manassero became the youngest winner in Tour history with a dominating, four-stroke victory at the Castello Masters in Valencia.

Despite being the runaway choice for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award in 2010, Manassero did not become complacent.

In his second Tour triumph the next year, Manassero fended off Gregory Bourdy and another young man named Rory McIlroy on the final day of the Malaysian Open.

That win made him the second-youngest champion on the European Tour as well.

A third victory in as many years has yet to happen for Manassero, but there are still months remaining in the current season.

Also noteworthy is Manassero's record in the World Golf Championships—Accenture Match Play.

In last year's event, he beat Steve Stricker, who was a two-seed in the bracket style tournament, and ousted 2010 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel in Round 2.

This season, he beat U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson 3 and 2 in the opening round, once again as a 15-seed.

The moral of the story: Manassero fears no one.

All-Around Accuracy

One thing that can be said about Matteo Manassero is that he hits it incredibly straight, both off the tee and on approach shots.

Although a little less sharp this season, Manassero still hits around 67 percent of greens in regulation.

However, in Manassero's first two European Tour seasons, he hit roughly 72 percent of greens, which comes out to about one more per round than he's presently averaging. That's quite a difference.

Also down this year is Manassero's driving accuracy.

After hitting well over 70 percent of his fairways in his first two years as a pro, he now hovers around 65 percent. Even still, that cracks the Top 50 on Tour.

The ball-striking may not be as crisp in 2012, but that shouldn't be too much cause for concern.

With such a tight, compact swing like Manassero's for coach Alberto Binaghi to work with, any flaws are likely to be corrected sooner rather than later.

Putting and Improving Short Game

The most important club in the bag is the flatstick. It is what separates the truly great players from the other professionals.

Matteo Manassero is currently enjoying a career year in putting. He ranks ninth on the European Tour averaging 28.7 putts per round.

To get an idea of his silky smooth stroke, check out the key putt he drained to take the outright lead for good in what wound up being his first professional victory.

The improved putting is helping make up for a less stellar year from tee to green. The putts per round is more than a full shot better for Manassero than in 2011.

Sand save percentage has been the most noticeable improvement in Manassero's short game, though.

He never managed better than a 50 percent success rate before, but Manassero now ranks 34th on Tour, getting up and down from the sand 63.3 percent of the time.

If Manassero can straighten out his long game before the end of the season and maintain a solid position in the Race to Dubai standings, he could make some serious noise before season's end.

Specifically, such a great short game along with his usual ball-striking could distinguish Manassero as a serious contender at the season-ending Dubai World Championship.

Room to Grow

What's scary is, Manassero is still only 19 years old. A teenager.

His place in the world rankings has fallen from as high as No. 29 to where he currently sits at 65th.

Even crazier is that unlike a lot of great young players such as Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler or Ryo Ishikawa, Manassero doesn't hit the ball very far at all comparatively.

Manassero is 5'11" and weighs 173 pounds according to my calculations and understanding of stones. He hasn't even gotten his grown man strength yet.

For as accurate as he is, Manassero has never cracked 280 yards off the tee on average.

While this may be discouraging in a game that is lending itself more and more vulnerable to big hitters, it shows how great Manassero's course management is.

Instead of trying to smash a driver 300 yards, Manassero plays within himself and doesn't try to do too much.

So many golfers try to be too ambitious, but Manassero seems to be just the opposite in not forcing the action in his young career.

Exhibiting that type of restraint and wise course management at such a young age bodes so well for the young Italian's future.

When he fills out physically, Manassero's power should come naturally. Considering how solid he strikes the ball and the continued technology explosion happening in golf today, it won't be an issue.

I don't even feel as though I'm going out on a limb to say Manassero will be a Top 10 golfer in the world very soon.

With that said, his talent, mental game and stunning early success make him well worth watching right now.