Adrián Otaegui leaves the course ready to finish off his defense of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters on Sunday. With a round of 69 strokes (-3) he finished two strokes behind the leaders, Denmark’s Jeff Winther and Germany’s Matti Schmid (-14), while Adri Arnaus (-9) is also in the top ten, eighth at five strokes.
The Basque player once again used his mettle and patience to stay in contention for the title. The birdies on 9 and 12, together with the bogey on 13, seemed insufficient to stay in the fight, but with the birdies on 17, thanks to a spectacular 16-meter putt, and 18, he vindicated his status as defending champion and favorite for the last day.
“I didn’t play as well as yesterday, I missed some greens in the first round and I had to be patient. In the second round I hit some very good shots, good irons like the shot on 15 and 16, I left myself more birdie options, but I had to wait for the last two holes.”
“Tomorrow I will adapt to the weather, I have no preferences, I just hope that more people will come, as today it was great”.
Otaegui’s main rivals are Denmark’s Jeff Winther and Germany’s Matti Schmid, who both carded seven under par to co-lead the standings (-14). Otaegui was followed by Korean-born Frenchman Jeong Weon Ko with -11, and Poland’s Adrian Meronk, England’s Richard Manson and Germany’s Nick Bachem with -10.
Adri Arnaus completed a great round of seven under par, the best round of the day shared, with which he placed eighth, five strokes behind the leaders (-9). The Catalan is seeing the results of his work to regain his best level of play.
“For a couple of months now I feel I’ve been going in the right direction. At Carnoustie I had a great result. I wish it would all go from one day to the next, but there are times when you have to keep chipping away and that’s where we’re at.”
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INSIDE THE ROPES
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Different ways to face the tense first shot
It is said that one of the most complicated shots in golf is the first tee, where there are more nerves and, in the case of professional tournaments such as the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, one of the places where more people are concentrated, from public to press, through the course staff or the DP World Tour.
The third day of this tournament included a sample of different ways of facing the moments before the first shot, from Nacho Elvira greeting friends in the last seconds before the speaker pronounced his name, to Otaegui’s maximum concentration with his eyes lost in the horizon.
Others opt for a chat with the caddie, either with a joke like Marcel Siem, or by asking the latest data on wind intensity and direction, as the Frenchman Matthieu Pavon has done.
But, undoubtedly, the prize for the best wait on the 1st tee was won by the Swede Sebastian Soderberg and his legion of friends who, after sounding his name over the public address system, began to sing for 20 or 30 seconds, making the player and the rest of the fans surrounding the tee laugh. This is a great way to go out to play a round of golf because the nerves disappear.
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The last day is brought forward
Except for Thursday’s gale, this Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters is saving well the weather adversities, but it seems that for Sunday afternoon storms are approaching in this area of Andalusia. Therefore, the DP World Tour has decided to advance the tee times of the last day, compressing them between 8:40 and 10:30 in the morning, both by the tee of 1 and 10.
Thus, the star party will go to the course of Real Club de Golf Sotogrande at 10:30 by the tee of 1, and will consist of the two leaders, Jeff Winther and Matti Schmid, accompanied by the defending champion and crowd favorite, Adrian Otaegui.
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Matti Schmid’s ambition
Matti Schmid is one of the young talents of German golf. European Amateur champion in 2019 and 2020, he turned professional in 2021 a week after being the top amateur at the British Open. It took him just seven appearances on the DP World Tour to tie up his card for the 2022 season and he also achieved his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour.
The German is fighting to keep both cards for next season and a win at the Estrella N.A. Andalucía Masters would be a big step forward.
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