Youngest Winners on the European Tour (DP World Tour)

Who is the youngest golfer ever to win on the European Tour? And how old was he? The answer to the second question is 17 years old. Twice in European Tour history, a golfer younger than 18 has won. And both times, it was the same golfer.

Matteo Manassero is that record-holder. He won the 2010 Castello Masters when he was 17 years, 188 days old. That was more than one year younger than the tour's previous youngest winner.

Manassero began the final round of that tournament two strokes off the lead. But he scored 67 in the final round to win by four over second-place Ignacio Garrido.

The following season, 2011, Manassero won again, this time just two days shy of his 18th birthday. The second win was at the Maybank Malaysian Open. And those are the two times so far that a golfer younger than 18 has won on the European Tour.

The List: Youngest European Tour Champions

• 17 years, 188 days — Matteo Manassero, 2010 Castello Masters Costa Azahar
• 17 years, 363 days — Matteo Manassero, 2011 Maybank Malaysian Open
• 18 years, 213 days — Danny Lee, 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic
• 18 years, 271 days — Rasmus Hojgaard, 2019 AfraAsia Mauritius Bank Open

The four golfers listed here all won their tournaments from 2009 and later. Who held the record before that? When Lee won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic, he broke the record previously held by Dale Hayes and set in 1971. Hayes was 18 years, 290 days old when he won the 1971 Spanish Open, and no younger winner appeared on the European Tour until Lee in 2009. (Hayes' win actually happened one year prior to the official founding year — 1972 — of the European Tour, but the tour had always recognized Hayes as its youngest winner.)

Related articles:

• Oldest winners on the European Tour
• Youngest winners on the PGA Tour
• Youngest winners on the LPGA Tour

Sources:
EuropeanTour.com. Stats, Records & Achievements, https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/stats/records-and-achievements/.
EuropeanTour.com. "Youngest winners in Tour history," https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/youngest-winners-in-tour-history/.
Ottawa Citizen. "Teen Lee Sets Record," February 23, 2009.