NORTH Yorkshireman John Parry’s impressive rookie season on the European Tour continued yesterday with his third highest finish of the year at the Castello Masters.

Parry might not have been able to repeat the outstanding 63, eight under, he shot in the third round to raise hopes of a maiden Tour triumph, but his one over 72 secured a further £20,000 to lift him up to 41st in the Race to Dubai rankings.

It has been an incredible 12 months for Parry, who was also part of the Great Britain & Ireland team that defeated Europe in the Vivendi Trophy this year.

He is nearing the world’s top 120 with earnings of around £600,000.

Parry will be pleased with the outcome overall, but things could have been even better in Valencia had he not bogeyed the last four holes yesterday.

That left the 24-year-old eight shots shy of Italian winner Matteo Manaserro.

Hartlepool’s Graeme Storm failed to make the cut.

Manassero became the youngest winner in European Tour history.

The Italian, at 17 years and 188 days, breaks the previous record set by New Zealand’s Danny Lee, who was 18 years and 113 days old when he won the 2008 Johnnie Walker Classic.

Manassero overcame a two shot deficit to England’s Gary Boyd over the final round, his four-under-par 67 moving him to 16 under overall and comfortably clear of Spain’s Ignacio Garrido on 12 under.

Manassero, a former British Amateur Champion whose best European Tour result before yesterday was a third place at this year’s Omega Masters, also becomes the youngest full European Tour Member as a result of this win, eclipsing the previous record held by Seve Ballesteros by just 12 days.

Manassero was into his stride early yesterday, sinking a 12-foot birdie putt at the third before nailing a 40-footer at the par-three sixth as the gap to Boyd closed to one shot.

The youngster dropped a shot on the seventh but he turned the screw over the back nine, three successive birdies at 13, 14 and 15 taking him clear of the pack.

“I always worked hard for this moment and now I’ve finally done it, it’s an unbelievable moment,” Manassero said.

“When I made that putt for par on 12 to stay two behind I kept going and I made some great shots coming in, and some good putts.

“That was the turning point as well as the birdie on 13. I was very nervous. At the beginning I was nervous and then I was a bit more relaxed and then I was very nervous again at the end.

“I couldn’t really imagine to be a winner in the first year, it was really just to keep my card, but now I’m a winner already.”

Manassero’s charge to the top of the leaderboard was aided by Boyd’s final-round capitulation, which saw the 24- year-old from Banbury string together a horror sequence of bogey, double-bogey, bogey on holes 15 through 17 as he slipped to 11 under and a tie for third place with Holland’s Joost Luiten, Peter Lawrie of Ireland and Swede Christian Nilsson.

Garrido’s surge to second place was aided by three birdies over the back nine, the Spaniard making gains at holes 13, 16 and 17 as he signed for a final-round 68.