Young Spaniard Adrian Otaegui sees Links Trophy as step towards turning pro

HE spent time with his idol Seve Ballesteros, he gets advice from Jose Maria Olazabal and one of his best friends is Matteo Manassero. Spaniard Adrian Otaegui is no ordinary golfer and, over the next few days in St Andrews, he's aiming to make a notable addition to an already impressive CV.

The 18-year-old from San Sebastian, though his family now live in France near Biarritz, has already tasted success on Scottish soil, following in the spikemarks of Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and Pablo Martin as he won the British Boys' Championship at Kilmarnock (Barassie) last August.

He's won the Spanish Amateur Stroke-play Championship since then and now Otaegui, the world No 30, has the St Andrews Links Trophy in his sights when the biggest event on the amateur calendar so far this year tees off today in Fife.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I love playing golf in Scotland - it is fantastic," he told The Scotsman. "The first time I came here was in 2008 for the Amateur Championship at Turnberry. I was 15 but just failed to qualify by a shot. I also played in the Links Trophy last year, finishing 12th, then won the British Boys. Every time I come back to Scotland I look forward to the challenge of playing links golf."

Seve, of course, felt exactly the same way and Otaegui admitted it would be "special" if could win this weekend on the hallowed fairways of the Old Course, just as his fellow Spaniard did in the 1984 Open Championship, his iconic fist-pumping celebration then being replayed over and over again following his death last month.

"For me, Seve is the best. I was lucky to meet him a few times. That was great and it (his death] is very sad," he said. "Jose Maria is also someone I have been lucky to learn from. I usually play a couple of times with him over the winter and he has given me a lot of good advice."

It's paying off big style. In his first-ever European Tour event, Otaegui finished 16th behind Darren Clarke in the Iberdrola Open in Majorca three weeks ago. "I played really good golf. I didn't miss a lot of fairways and I also putted well," he said of that effort.

By the looks of things, it's unlikely to be too long before he's on that stage full-time, competing against the likes of Italian sensation Manassero, last year's Rookie of the Year and, even before he's turned 18, the holder of two European Tour titles.

"Matteo and I played together in the Junior Ryder Cup," noted Otaegui, a former Faldo Series winner in Brazil. "He is a good friend of mine and I speak to him. He has shown that it is possible for amateurs to turn professional and be successful immediately.

"I want to be there (on Tour] in the next few years.After the Links Trophy, I've got the British Amateur Championship at Hillside and Hesketh and my results in these events will say if I'm ready at the moment to turn professional."

He faces stiff competition at St Andrews, where the field is headed by Australian Matthew Stieger, the world No 13, and 15th-ranked Englishman Andrew Sullivan, who is aiming to complete a notable double north of he border after winning the Scottish Stroke-Play Championship at Blairgowrie last weekend.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Stieger has won both the Tasmanian Open and Australian Amateur Championship already this year, with New Zealander Ben Campbell, the beaten finalist in the latter, also in today's line-up on the New Course, as are the joint runners-up 12 months ago, Peterhead's Philip McLean and English Walker Cup player Stiggy Hodgson.

A week later than he had originally anticpated, Michael Stewart, the Scottish and South African Amateur champion, is making his return after being sidelined since he was forced to pull out of the Lytham Trophy with a hand injury that was subsequently diagnosed as tendinitis.

More than 20 countries are represented in the 144-man field for which the handicap cut-off was +2.5 but the chances of a local winner emerging for the first time shouldn't be discounted.

It's been a stellar season so far for Fife golf and New Club duo Greg Paterson and Peter Latimer are joined in the field by rising St Andrews star Ewan Scott.

All three of them have progressed through the ranks at the St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association (SALJGA).