The Final - Live Text

Championship - 20 Jun, 2009

3.52pm: MATTEO MANASSERO IS THE 2009 AMATEUR CHAMPION

Hole 33 is halved in 5. Manassero wins 4&3

3.51pm:Manassero misses from six-feet but Hutsby couldn't make his four-footer leaving the 16-year-old Italian with a three-footer which he holed to become the youngest ever winner of The Amateur Championship.

3.50pm: Hutsby misses leaving Manassero with a six-footer to win the championship...

3.48pm: Manassero is left of the green again with his approach. He's looking at a difficult up and down. Hutsby's second was struck well to 20'.

3.45pm: Into the wind, Manassero takes three-wood off the tee and finds the fairway at about 260 yards. Hutsby drives sublimely, carrying the Italian's ball. He'll be faced with an approach of less than 100 yards.

Hole 32. Hutsby wins the hole with a 3. Manassero is 4-up.

3.40pm: And he's holed it again! Hutsby refuses to lie down and is displaying real strength of character. No matter what happens, this is impressive stuff from the 20-year-old Englishman. 

3.37pm: From 145 yards Manassero tugs his shot slightly and the mall comes to rest on the left edge of the green. Hutsby hist a magnificent approach to 7', giving him another good birdie chance. Manassero's putt is good but Hutsby has a chance...

3.34pm: Hutsby is 25 yards ahead of Manassero in the centre of the fairway after both take driver at the 14th hole.

Hole 31. Hutsby wins the hole with a 3. Manassero is 5-up

3.31pm: An Hutsby's holed it! He played a towering approach to 8' and rolled it in. There's still plenty of life in this match for the 500 spectators.

3.30pm: Manassero is through the green...and he's chipped up to about six feet.

3.21pm: Both hit good iron shots off the 13th tee. Hutsby finds the left half and Manassero is plum in the middle.

Hole 30. Manaserro wins the hole with a 4 to go 6-up with 6 to play.

3.19pm: But Manassero robs him of that chance, holing to win the hole in 4.

3.16pm: Fun and games! Hutsby plays and leaves it in the bunker. Now he has to mark his ball while Manassero plays a good shot onto the green. Hutsby's second bunker shot is much improved; he's 23' away with a chance to save par.

3.11pm: Manassero plays a good second but catches an unlucky bounce to find the fairway bunker. Hutsby, finishes next to the Italian, arriving by an altogether different route; his ball ricocheting off an R&A buggy.  The balls are so close together that Manassero has to his before removing it from the bunker

3.06pm: Drivers off the tee again. Metronomic Manassero finds the fairway but Hutsby, playing first, leaks his ball out to the right, almost hitting one of the observers. He's just right of the fairway bunker with a good lie looking at about 160 yards to the flag.

Hole 29 halved in 4. Manassero remains 5-up.

3.03pm: Hutsby's putt thinks about dropping before slipping by. Manassero putts to less than a foot. Both putts are conceded and it's onto the 30th hole of the day with the Italian still leading by 5 holes.

3:00pm: Hutsby finds the back portion of the green. He's 25' away from the hole looking at a putt whick looks like it won't break too much. Manassero is on the left edge, 18' away from the pin.

2:57pm: Hutsby goes left with driver into heavy rough. He's got about 160 yards in. Manassero, also with driver, finds the semi down the right side. His ball is sitting up nicely, 6' away off the fairway.

Hole 28 is halved in 3. Manassero remains 5-up.

2:51pm: Hutsby putts first and gets the ball to within 6'. A great putt by Manassero from the front edge touched the right lip but slipped by. Both hole their next shots for a pair of threes.

2.49pm: Both players have come up just short at the par-3 10th. The pin's at the back today so they're looking at looking at 30-35 yard putts.

Hole 27 is halved in 4. Manassero remains 5-up.

2.44pm Manassero holes from 10'. The pressure is back on the Englishman....but he sinks it to half the hole.

2.42: Manassero plays a beautiful chip shot, flying the ball all the way to the flag before it grabs and leaves him a 10' putt. Hutsby responds with a neat shot to four feet. Both players have demonstrated exceptional tough today.

2.35pm: Both players take driver at the 9th and pierce the fairway. They hit their second shots and, once again, neither finds the green. Manassero is pin-high right with an awkward chip over a bunker to come. He's got 20 yards to work with. Hutsby's through the back.

Hole 26. Hutsby wins the hole with a 4. Manassero is 5-up.

2.31pm: And he's missed. The put caught the lip but didn't drop, and Hutsby claws one back.

2.30pm: Having hit his second shot through the green Hutsby chips back to 10', from where he manages to sink the putt  After coping manfully with that tough lie, Manassero scrambles to give himself a 9' chance for par. 

2.23pm: Both hit driver and end up running out of fairway. Hutsby's ball is sitting up reasonably well. Manassero, on the other hand, has a tricky lie.

Hole 25. Manassero wins the hole with a 4 to go 6-up.

2.20pm: After a couple of loose chips, the pair are both faced with 8' - 10' putts. Hutsby can't make his and his shoulders droop as he collects his ball. Manassero does make his 8-footer however to go 6-up. One way traffic at the moment.

2.14pm: From around 150 yards, both players end up short, Hutsby slightly more so than Manassero.

2.10pm: As the RAF training aircraft continue to buzz overhead, both players find the 7th fairway. Manassero hits a rescue, which has seen a lot of use today, while Hutsby takes an iron.

Hole 24 halved in 5. Manassero remains 5-up.

2.08pm: But Manassero can't capitalise as he lips out from 5'. The hole is halved and we move on to the next.

2.05pm: Hutsby hits a pretty good shot considering the lie, but he's 40' past the hole and it's him to play again. The return putt comes up 5' short, and again the door is open for the Italian. 

2.03pm: Hustby over-clubs and is through the green. He'll have an impeded backswing. Manassero is 4 yards off the putting surface, 35' from the hole.

1.59pm: Both players take three-wood off the tee with Manassero finding the middle of the fairway and Hutsby 20 yards behind him in the semi.

Hole 23. Manassero wins the hole with a 2 to go 5-up

1.54pm: Manassero pumps his fist as he holes for a birdie at the short par-3 fifth to go 5-up in front of a crowd which is now 400-strong.

Hole 22 is halved in 3. Manassero remains 1-up

1.40pm: At the reachable par-four fourth, both players miss the green and are left with awkward chips, but both get up-and-down to make birdie.

Hole 21. Manassero wins th hole with a 5 to go 4-up

1.36pm: The Englishman over-hits his first putt, finishing 8' past the hole, and missed the one back to leave the door open. Manassero gets down in two for a par and wins the hole. The italian has now won four of the last six holes.

1.32pm: Hutsby launches a high six-iron which comes to rest pin high, 40' from the hole on the right-hand fringe. The Italian over-hits his pitch and runs 20' past. Both players have taken three shots so far...

1.28pm: Hutsby advances his ball 65 yards down the fairway but still faces a third shot of about 185 yards. Manassero strikes his three-wood crisply and finishes 30 yards short of the green.

1.25pm: Both players take driver at the par-5 third. Manassero hits a beauty but Hutsby, who has tugged a couple of drives now, finds one of the bunkers that line the left side.

Hole 20 halved in 4. Manassero remains 3-up.

1.20pm: Manassero's chip-and-run flirts with the edge of the bunker before coming to rest 3' from the hole. A cracking shot. Hutsby misses by the narrowest of margins and, with Manassero completing his up-and-down, the hole is halved in 4. 

1.15: From 185 yards, Manassero comes up short and left of the green, with a bunker between him and the hole. Hutsby, meanwhile piches from 85 yards to 12', giving the 20-year-old an excellent chance for birdie.

1.12pm: Manassero finds the middle of the fairway with a three-wood. Similarly, Hutsby has also found the centre but is fully 100 yards past the Italian after hitting driver.

Hole 19 is halved in 4. Manassero remains 3-up.

1.10pm: With 10 yards of green to work with, Hutsby chips over a to 5'. Manassero putts to 2' and Hutsby, after conceding the Italian's short tap-in, holes from 5' to halve the hole.

1.05: Hutsby plays is five yards right of the green pin high, while Manassero, whose ball tracked the pin, in on the putting surface 20' short of the hole. 

1.00pm: Both players take driver off the first tee. Manassero finds the semi-rough while Hutsby is in deeper stuff after pulling his drive left. The Englishman has 160yds to the front while the Italian has 150.