Otaegui wins China Open, SA’s Stone sixth

Stimpmeter · May 5, 2024, 8:15am

Adrian Otaegui overturned a five-shot deficit thanks to a brilliant final-round of 65 to secure the Volvo China Open by one stroke.

In-form Sebastian Söderberg was aiming to seal a wire-to-wire victory at Hidden Grace Golf Club, which had been reduced to 54 holes after Saturday’s third round was cancelled due to thunder and lightning in the Shenzhen area.

However, the Swede struggled on Sunday as Otaegui produced a flawless display and back-to-back birdies from the 16th saw him hit the front for the first time at 18 under par.

Söderberg replied with a brilliant gain at the penultimate hole, but he went out of bounds with his final tee-shot for a closing double-bogey, which saw him slide to a tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach at 16 under, one behind runner-up Guido Migliozzi.

Filipino Lloyd Jefferson Go finished in fifth at 15 under par, with South Africa’s Brandon Stone signed a final-round 64 to sit one shot further back.

Austrian Matthias Schwab and American Johannes Veerman were at 13 under, while France’s Antoine Rozner wrapped up the top 10 at 12 under.

Söderberg made the worst possible start by hitting his opening tee-shot into the penalty area for a bogey to drop back to 15 under, which was capitalised by playing partner Migliozzi with a lengthy birdie to join Waring at 13 under.

The leading pair’s scoring dried up and the chasing pack closed in, with Migliozzi birdieing the 7th to sit alongside Girrbach and Otaegui at 14 under following their strong starts.

Otaegui held a share of the lead when he picked up a shot at the 9th, but Söderberg followed suit to return to 16 under with his first gain of the day at the same hole.

There was no room for error for the Swede as Migliozzi finished his front nine with a gain to be within touching distance of leader alongside Otaegui and Waring at 15 under.

Migliozzi drained a brilliant long birdie at the 10th to briefly sit at the summit, but Söderberg responded immediately with one of his own on the same hole to reach 17 under for the first time.

Waring traded a birdie at the 11th with a bogey at the next, while Otaegui and Girrbach moved to within one of the leading Swede thanks to birdies at the 13th.

However, Söderberg replied with a nerve-calming birdie at the 13th to open stretch his advantage to two strokes over the field. He had a chance to restore his initial three-shot lead at the next, but missed the right edge of the cup.

That proved costly as he found trouble off the tee at the 15th and just as Söderberg missed his par putt, Otaegui rolled in a birdie at the hole ahead to move to 17 under and share the lead.

Pressure was definitely showing for the long-time leader when he found the greenside bunker at the par-three 16th, the same hole that Migliozzi drained a 25 foot birdie to make it a three-way tie for the lead.

Söderberg responded with a 20 foot par to remain at the top, but Otaegui reached the par-five 17th in two and when he rolled his eagle putt to concessional range, the Spaniard was the outright leader at 18 under.

Just as Otaegui set the clubhouse target with a closing par, Söderberg holed a 20 foot birdie to rejoin the lead in an enthralling finish in Shenzhen.

The roller-coaster final round did not finish there as the Swede hooked his drive into the penalty area and despite finding the green with his third, he could not drain the monster par putt to hand Otaegui his fifth DP World Tour title of his career.

Migliozzi rolled in a lengthy birdie putt to climb up the 17 under, which Söderberg could not match after finishing with a three putt.

– Article from DP World Tour website

Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

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