Manassero faces complications with acquiring Chinese visitor’s visa
Matteo Manassero, despite being eligible to play at the HSBC Champions tournament, may be unable due to visa complications with the Chinese government.
17-year-old Manassero gained eligibility to participate in the Shanghai event by winning last week’s Castello Masters in Spain. With the win Manassero became the youngest player to win on the European tour.
Manassero’s manager, Gorga Guillen, remains cautiously optimistic telling reporters, “to get his visa, first Matteo needs a letter of invitation from the Chinese government’s sports ministry and getting that is not going to be easy at such short notice.”
Manassero, who prior to this week’s win was set to play another event in Spain, may end up missing out on both events. Manassero has opted to take a chance with the Chinese government in the hopes of playing next week with the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil
Mickelson and Lee Westwood.
The HSBC Champions tournament played at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai has a $7,000,000 purse. The event last year headlined a star-studded field with seven of the world’s top 10 competing. Phil Mickelson, last year’s winner, took home a $1.2m
first prize.
Manassero was originally scheduled to play at Valderrama in the Andalucia Masters but now must skip the event so that he can fill out the necessary paperwork to acquire a Chinese visitor’s visa.
Manassero turned professional earlier this year and is presently ranked 165th in the world and stands 43rd in the Race to Dubai. He had a storied amateur career being the youngest British Amateur Champion and tying for 13th in the 2009 British Open. Also,
Manassero became the youngest amateur to make the cut at this year’s Masters and has earned a reputation as an up and coming star that can play with the big boys.
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