Adrian Otaegui made a strong start to his European Challenge Tour season as the Spaniard carded a four under par round of 67 to finish the opening day of the Barclays Kenya Open one shot off the lead.
The San Sebastian man’s round was all the more admirable considering he was two over through seven holes at Karen Country Club, in Nairobi, after bogeys at the first and the sixth.
He bounced back though with a birdie at the eighth, thanks to a 40 foot putt, before birdies at the tenth and 14th were followed by an eagle at 15th after a superb three iron approach to ten feet.
A birdie at the final hole completed a remarkable comeback as the 20 year old enters the second day a shot off HP Bacher’s lead.
“I didn’t start very well but then I tried to stay calm,” said Otaegui, who is mentored by 2012 European Ryder Cup Captain José-María Olazábal. “I played well then and didn’t miss much.
“It was a really good round for the beginning of the year. I just had to keep calm and keep playing and I was delighted to play well on the back nine.
“It’s just the first round but I will just try to play well and we’ll see at the end of the week. Hopefully I can stay calm again.
“It is very different this season after playing my first season on The European Tour last year. I had much more time for practice at the beginning of this year.
“I had almost two months of practice and I think I have improved my game, especially my short game and putting. I couldn’t do that last year with so many tournaments early on and I think it’s good to have some time to think and to work.”
Bacher, meanwhile, made a flying start as an eagle and a birdie in the opening three holes helped him to a five under par 66.
The Austrian almost negotiated the opening three holes in four under par as a birdie putt at the first hole just slid past the cup before he chipped in from 35 feet for an eagle at the second and carded a birdie at the third.
A bogey at the ninth hole meant he reached the turn in two under but a gained shot at the par four 11th followed by birdies at the back nine’s two par fives, the 15th and 18th, elevated him to the top of the leaderboard.
Scores:
66 H Bacher (Aut) ,
67 T Murray (Eng) , A Otaegui (Esp) , R Russell (Sco) ,
68 A McArthur (Sco) , M Ford (Eng) , G Snow (Ken) , D Law (Sco) , S Hutsby (Eng) , G Murray (Sco) ,
69 P Uihlein (USA) , B An (Kor) , T Hatton (Eng) , S O’Hara (Sco) , T Sluiter (Ned) , W Besseling (Ned) , D Indiza (Ken) , C Brazillier (Fra) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , P Archer (Eng) ,
70 D Kemmer (USA) , J Lima (Por) , B Koepka (USA) , J Gibb (Eng) , N Ngugi (Ken) , J Fahrbring (Swe) , P Oriol (Esp) , B Hebert (Fra) , L Bjerregaard (Den) , G Stal (Fra) , A Pavan (Ita) ,
71 D Im (USA) , J Van Tonder (RSA) , F Bergamaschi (Ita) , D Odhiambo (Ken) , P Edberg (Swe) , M Crespi (Ita) , T Nørret (Den) , D Frittelli (RSA) , E Dubois (Fra) , M Mandhu (Zim) , D Denison (Eng) , A Shah (Ken) , V Riu (Fra) , N Mudanyi (Ken) , J Ruth (Eng) , P Relecom (Bel) , J Moul (Eng) , C Aguilar (Esp) , J Huldahl (Den) , J Barnes (Eng) , M Glauert (Ger) ,
72 S Walker (Eng) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , A Velasco (Esp) , S Manley (Wal) , J Senior (Eng) , K Timbe (Ken) , N Kearney (Irl) , T Fournier (Fra) , S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) , J Legarrea (Esp) , M Muthiya (Zam) , G Shaw (Nir) ,
73 F Colombo (Ita) , B Parker (Eng) , N Ravano (Ita) , J Timmis (Eng) , M Sell (Eng) , N Floren (Swe) , S Brown (Eng) , D Vancsik (Arg) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , R Hjelm (Den) , D Wuensche (Ger) , R Davies (Wal) , B Njoroge (Ken) , S Engell Andersen (Ken) , J Howarth (Eng) , A Bernadet (Fra) ,
74 M Haastrup (Den) , P Dwyer (Eng) , J Dantorp (Swe) , J McLeary (Sco) , N Elvira (Esp) , J Lando Casanova (Fra) , S Tiley (Eng) , L Kennedy (Eng) , C Ford (Eng) , D Akope (Uga) , G Giddie (Ken) , C Suneson (Esp) , N Simwa (am) (Ken) ,
75 D Stewart (Sco) , C Gane (Eng) , L Claverie (Esp) , R Enoch (Wal) , A Rota (Ita) , L Goddard (Eng) , J Van Der Walt (RSA) , J Muigai (Ken) , S Ngige (Ken) , D Griffiths (Eng) , C Hanson (Eng) , C Russo (Fra) , W Booth (Sco) , M Zions (Aus) , D Perrier (Fra) , A Horne (Swz) , F Kimani (am) (Ken) ,
76 K Borsheim (Nor) , J Maurer (Aut) , R Charania (Ken) , L Saltman (Sco) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , A Domingo (Esp) , B Simwa (Ken) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , S Muthugia (Ken) , M Kramer (Ger) , C Wangai (Ken) , G Houston (Wal) , P Thuo (Ken) ,
77 K Abuto (Ken) , F Laporta (Ita) , F De Vries (Ned) , H Kadio (Tan) , R Ainley (Ken) , D Wakhu (Ken) , O Rozner (Fra) , F Calmels (Fra) , D Opati (Ken) , N Meitinger (Ger) ,
78 A Kimani (Ken) , G Cambis (Fra) , J Kagiri (Ken) , J Abbott (Eng) , R Kellett (Sco) , M Novy (Cze) , D Palm (Swe) ,
79 M Haremza (Ger) , J Watts (Eng) , M Omondi (am) (Ken) , T Omuli (am) (Ken) ,
80 H Kutwa (Ken) , J Glennemo (Swe) , J Okello (Ken) , A Perrino (Ita) , J Sandhu (am) (Ken) , J Madoya (am) (Ken) ,
81 A Shah (Ken) ,
83 H Mutawe (Uga) ,
84 E Ruterena (Rwa) , Å Nilsson (Swe) ,
** M Haines (Eng) , N Rokoine (Ken) ,
Photo credit © Chris Omollo
