Quick 18: Manassero wins event No. 2 before turning 18

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17-year-old Matteo Manassero picked up his second European Victory just two days before his 18th birthday.

1. No driver's license, but ... two wins on his resume'. Yes, we begin Q-18 with soon-to-be birthday boy Matteo Manassero, who turns 18 tomorrow. He now owns the top two spots on youngest player to win on the European Tour and everyone's wondering what's next. The win at the Maybank Malaysian Open took him from 57th in the Official World Golf Ranking to 33rd and got us buzzing once again. He beat a good field -- and young Rory McIlroy and three of the current major champs (only Graeme McDowell was missing). He's good, let's just not push too hard.

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2. The young Italian grew up watching Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods and Costantino Rocca, but said Seve was No. 1. "He is and will always be," Manassero said. "I thought Seve was the kind of player I wanted to be. The crowd was cheering for him and he was different to everyone else. He is a great person and a symbol of what a person should be. He sent me a letter after I won in Spain. That was nice."

3. Which brings Q-18 to Rors. Heard some groans and grumps about needing to finish things off when he wound up third in Malaysia but ... Q-18 chooses the half-full side. He bounced back from a final round that would send most of us into hiding for a week. Instead, he's tweeting a picture of himself with green-jacketed Chubby stablemate Charl Schwarzel on the plane to Kuala Lumpur. Classic.

4. Next, Rors exits that side of the world with the No. 7 spot in the OWGR and the tweet of the week: @McIlroyRory: Apparently I was spotted house hunting last week..... LOL!!! Yep, it was him between the two cottages just off the 10th fairway at Augusta National. This, folks, is why the mop-headed one has a brighter future than so many. He has perspective.

5. Greg Norman designed the AT&T Oaks course (home to the Valero Texas Open) to play in the Texas wind. "On a calm day, this course is difficult,'' Charles Howell III said. But who'd have thought the course would produce the highest scoring average of the year? Note to U.S. Open folks: don't sharpen those edges at Congressional to try to one-up the Texas Open scoring. That course is tough enough on its own.

6. Brendan Steele. The kid was tough, wasn't he? Didn't hurt that he was playing with guys his age, which has to take a bit of the edge off the pressure. Nice finish, nice win. And best comeback to the tournament's traditional presentation of a handcrafted pair of cowboy boots -- "Do I get a horse, too?"

7. One piece of mental lint you might not know about Steele: his uncle is Tony Geary, who plays Luke Spencer on ABC's General Hospital. Another one: He's the first 2011 winner to qualify for the 2012 Masters. That field is now 42 and holding.

8. One-up Woods. Just not THAT Woods. Tiger's niece Cheyenne won ACC medalist honors over the weekend to go one-up her uncle in 2011 wins. The Wake Forest junior fired a bogey-free 68 to beat North Carolina's Allie White by seven shots. Tiger, by the way, floated down to sixth in the world rankings. Maybe next time, we'll go with "Cheyenne Woods, whose uncle is Tiger. . ." Nah.

9. Serious snaps coming from all around for Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore's work on Pinehurst No. 2. "We tried our best to uncover it.'' Crenshaw said. "We'd take grass away, and there's sand right there. We're in the sandhills of North Carolina. That's what was here. And hopefully we've illuminated avenues of play." Not a bad word from those who have played it. It looks very different, very natural in shots Q-18 has seen. Will the players like it? What's not to like?

10. What draws the Golfer-in-chief to the course more often than previous White House residents? "It's the only excuse I have to get outside for four hours at a stretch,'' President Barack Obama told a gathering of Hearst Magazine publishers and editors. He also said he misses being anonymous. "I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks,'' he said. "I can't take a walk." Well, he can. With Secret Service and vehicles trailing him. . .

11. Is it too early to wonder if the Charles Schwab Cup race will come down to Tom Lehman and John Cook? Maybe so, but with Bernhard Langer rehabbing after thumb surgery, they are the only two-time winners on the Champions Tour. But. . .

12. Don't count out a repeat win by Nick Price and Mark O'Meara at this week's Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Wasn't it just yesterday Jimmy Demaret's Lawn Party for fiftysomethings in Austin started this whole playing-into-your-senior-years movement? Back then 50 seemed sooooo old to Q-18. Now? Well ... it's younger than us.

13. In case you missed it ... and even if you didn't, it's so worth repeating. When one of Augusta National's iconic Magnolia trees on Magnolia Lane became a casualty of last Monday night's storm, defending champ Phil Mickelson couldn't resist: "I was surprised, you know, that (the tree) wasn't replaced the first half-hour," Mickelson said. "I don't understand what happened. I think Chairman (Billy) Payne must have been sleeping." Augusta is well known for repairing flaws so quickly it's like grounds crews wave a magic Bobby Jones wand. In fact, most players didn't realize the storm did some damage to the eighth green. But replacing a century-old tree? Not even Augusta could pull that off in the blink of an eye. But a year . . . .

14. Q-18 was right with Norman and Adam Scott when they said pish-posh to the long putter, oh, a year or so ago. Now Scott's a convert and Norman's OK with Scott using one. "When I spoke with Adam on the phone afterwards (Masters), I said to him, 'God bless you and the long putter. That's just what you need.'" Norman told The Sydney Morning Herald. "It is just the shot of confidence he needed, and I said to him, 'Just win, win, win with it.'" Could Scott start a trend and make long putters cool? If anyone can do it. . .

15. Could we make it through this back nine without reflecting on the duodecuple 16? Na. Sorry. Had to. And yes, duodecuple your word for the day. Means 12-over. Kevin Na took it in stride, which was about the only way he could at the Valero. Miked by Golf Channel, he even asked his caddie "How are we going to count all the strokes?" You had to feel for him -- just like we all felt for Rors at Augusta -- but both moments resonated with the average golfer, some of whom do that all too often. "It was really just one bad shot," Na said. "Well, two actually. But that's what started the whole thing. It kind of gets out of hand. That's what happens in this crazy game."

16. Leave it to Morning Drive host Gary Williams to point out -- and Golf Channel/Golf World nugget-whiz Tim Rosaforte to fill in the blanks -- that . . Rickie Fowler isn't winless this year. He won the Pro-Member at Seminole and, over the weekend, added the Member-Caddie title at The Medalist. The latter came courtesy of an eagle -- 6-iron, 202 yards into the cup -- on the second playoff hole. OK. It's not the PGA TOUR, but, trust us, that'll come soon.

17. In case you missed it ... Former PGA champ Rich Beem, who's coming off 2010 surgery, made his first cut of 2011 -- and first, period, since last year's Shell Houston Open -- last week. Beemer finished T15 at Valero ... Amateur/Oklahoma State star Peter Uihlien wins the Texas A&M Invitational and goes to the head of this year's college class. . .

18. And, finally ... loving this one from the New Zealand Herald. Seems 2005 U.S. Open champ Michael Campbell and five-time Olympic gold medalist rower Sir Steve Redgrave were talking about everything on a 45-minute drive last year from Carnoustie and St Andrews. Campbell said something to the effect that winning the U.S. Open was like reaching the top of Mt Everest. "I can't go any higher." Redgrave thought for a moment, then said, "The next time you want to climb Everest, try doing it without oxygen." It was an ah-ha moment Campbell, who finished in a tie for 19th earlier this month in Morocco. So was the Masters. "I made myself watch the Masters to get my hunger back. It's not until it's not there for you that you realize how much you miss it."

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM and can be reached at melaniehauser@gmail.com. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. Follow her on Twitter @melaniehauser.