Adrián Otaegui took another step towards his main goal this week: to defend the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters title. With a round of 69 strokes (-3) he tied for the lead with South African Louis de Jager and Korean-born Frenchman Jeong Wean Ko (-9).
The Basque player was patient to complete a round in which, despite the excellent level of play, the birdies resisted. He started with one on the first hole, but had to wait until the 16th and 17th to subtract more strokes from the course. Between them, a waste of solidity and a lot of calm to get his reward in the last holes of the round.
Otaegui confirmed the good sensations when he handed in his card.
“I felt very comfortable, I played very well from tee to green, I left myself a lot of birdie opportunities and I made some good putts.”
As on the first day, the Basque player made no mistakes and completed his round without bogeys.
“It was easy to make bogeys today, there were several holes in the first round where the flag was on the side where the wind was coming so it was easy to leave yourself a putt a little long and if you were greedy, you could get into trouble.”
Patience has been his great ally in staying true to his strategy, an attitude that “like everything else, you work at,” he explained.
“I managed to keep my patience by talking myself positive and staying in the present. Apart from the putts on 16 and 17, it was a good day of golf.”
It is clear that Adrián Otaegui maintains his romance with Sotogrande.
“All of us players love the course, I haven’t heard half a negative comment, everyone is in love. I love the course and I really like the whole area.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, Otaegui wants to take it step by step, without thinking too much about last year’s victory.
“You have to focus on the present, go hole by hole all weekend, you have to be in the present.”
The cut of the first 65 classified and tied has been left at -1. Among them are Nacho Elvira (-4), Rafa Cabrera Bello (-3), Adri Arnaus (-2), Jorge Campillo (-2) and Alfredo García Heredia (-1).
Among the international players who will enjoy the fans who come to Real Club de Golf Sotogrande this week or follow the tournament on television is almost all of its top players, such as Americans Wyndham Clark (-2) and Matt Kuchar (-1), New Zealander Ryan Fox (-2), the Scottish Robert MacIntyre (-2), the Italian Francesco Molinari (-1), and the Dane Thomas Björn (-1).
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INSIDE THE ROPES
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Mike Lorenzo-Vera, a passionate of Spain who lives to the limit
The protagonist of the second day, with permission of Adrian Otaegui, was Mike Lorenzo-Vera, who achieved the best round of the day, 65 strokes, and at the right time. The Frenchman arrived at the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in 111th place in the Race to Dubai, and 116 are those who manage to keep the card for 2024.
“Playing with the pressure of the card is horrible. I knew I had to make a lot of birdies to make the cut and secure the card, and it’s turned out to be a good day, but what a strain.”
Lorenzo-Vera achieved his big goal, and now he is focused on another one that still eludes him: victory. Despite never having won in the DP World Tour, he should not be discarded because he is playing well and in a place he loves.
“I’m passionate about Spain, I’m happy here, even if my physical trainer doesn’t like me to get lost in the beer or the ham, but I love it here. Besides, the courses are technical, and that benefits me,” he explained at the end of a great second round that puts him in fifth position heading into the weekend.
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Thomas Bjorn and Alfredo García Heredia, different goals but the same grit
They say that “you should never underestimate the power of a champion” and, on this second day, two players showed good signs of their grit and not giving up, although with different goals and pressures. The former captain of the European Ryder Cup team, Thomas Bjorn, was able to make birdie on his last three holes to be the last player to pass the -1 cut, and prove that, despite being 52 years old, he never gives up.
“This was going to be my last tournament with the exemption and on the final holes I was just thinking that these 28 years on Tour could be coming to an end,” explained the Dane.
“I still enjoy it. I’ve played with two guys whose combined ages are younger than my years, and it tells a great story. I enjoy being with these young guys, but it all comes to an end. While I’ll still play a few tournaments here and there, I won’t play the full schedule in the future. They are just too good.
“I’ve played over 600 tournaments in my Tour career and won 15 times, so it’s a big disappointment to say goodbye. There have been many moments over the years when I’ve been hard on myself. Today I’m taking it with a big smile and looking forward to the weekend,” Björn concluded.
Another example of fighting to the end was that of Alfredo García Heredia, a player who is currently ranked 116th in the Race to Dubai, just the limit of those who have a card for 2024. His situation was very complicated with nine holes to go, after a fatal streak of triple bogey on the 7th and bogey on the 9th. He managed to recover and make three birdies in a row on 10-11-12, followed by six vital pars to overcome the cut to the limit and give himself the option of scoring more points in this penultimate tournament of the regular season.
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