Adrian Otaegui shot a superb seven-under-par 65 on Sunday to come from five shots back to win the Volvo China Open and a place in the US PGA Championship in two weeks.
The Spaniard finished on a 54-hole total of 198, 18-under par, to win the weather-shortened event at Hidden Grace Golf Club in Shenzhen after Saturday’s play was cancelled because of dangerous storms.
It gave him victory by one stroke from Italy’s Guido Migliozzi, who carded a final-round 67.
Second-round leader Sebastian Soderberg of Sweden, who started five clear of Otaegui, saw the title slip from his grasp with a sorry double-bogey at the 18th when a par would have taken him into a playoff.
He finished at 16-under par after a 72 alongside England’s Paul Waring (69) and Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach (67).
“I was starting five shots back so I just didn’t look at the leaderboard, not think about the result. Just play my game,” said Otaegui who won his fifth DP World (European) Tour title.
Otaegui’s victory in the final event of the DP World Tour’s Asian Swing secured a berth at the season’s second major, the US PGA Championship at Valhalla, beginning on May 16.
“Well, that’s very good news,” said Otaegui when informed that he had finished third on the Asian Swing standings — enough to get him into the next major. “Playing some majors this year was a big goal for me,” said the world number 143. “Will just be enough time to rest a little bit at home next week and then head to America.”—AFP
