Anyone who shoots a final-round 62 to nick a golf tournament from nowhere when he’s a 25/1 tip has to be flavour of the month, so bravo to that thrill-a-minute Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal who plays the sort of aggressive golf everyone loves to see whether they’ve backed him or not.
Sometimes it comes off, sometimes not. Sunday was a “going” day with birdies pouring in by the shedload from the veteran’s sensational iron play and dead-eye putter for his second victory in six weeks and his first on home soil at Tarragona, just an hour’s drive from his Barcelona home.
Having already won one new tournament on the DP World Tour rota, at Pecanwood in South Africa, here he was knocking off another, the ISPS Handa Championship, and, with a seventh place in Qatar sandwiched between the two, there’s no hotter golfer in this week’s second Spanish challenge in row, the Catalunya Championship in Girona.
If we didn’t, from experience, know how difficult it is to win back to back, Pablo would be again an attractive bet at 25/1. But it is the compatriot he beat in Tarragona, that super-straight driver Adrian Otaegui, who gets the vote to gain revenge as, bogey-free in the final round, he did precious little wrong and made a gallant attempt at the last-hole eagle that would have earned him a playoff.
Otaegui, who surprisingly has won only one fully-fledged 72-hole strokeplay tournament in a main-tour career that began in earnest after he finished co-winner of the 2015 Qualifying School.
And that’s the extra clue for making him the main selection as the regained tour card came on this week’s demanding layout, the Stadium course at PGA Catalunya, measuring 7353 yards par 72 and scene of three Spanish Opens and Qualifying School home from 2008 to 2016.
Even without that on his CV, Otaegui would still rate good value at 28/1 as before Sunday’s unlucky second he was fourth in Qatar and third at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship before the tour’s three-week break.
As the 29-year-old former amateur star said after Sunday’s near miss: “I came into the week playing well and I did play really well, so I’m happy with my game and enjoying myself at the moment.” Long may it continue … at least for one more week!
As for dangers in an understandably similar field, though with the notable addition of British Master champion Richard Bland, there have to concerns about the other market leaders.
Rasmus Hojgaard’s collapse from a challenging position to almost last of the qualifiers was alarming, twin brother Nikolai barely made the cut and eight-time tour winner Bernd Wiesberger was never a factor.
As the course, designed by Neil Coles and Angel Gallardo in 1999 with the Ryder Cup in mind, favours accuracy over power, players like Otaegui and Bland should be in their element. With trees pressing into fairways, lakes in play on seven holes and fierce bunkering to be navigated, this tight par 72 will be a tougher driving test than Tarragona.
The three Spanish Opens there were won by Brian Davis, Thomas Levet and Miguel Angel Jimenez, none big hitters but all straight, and Bland at 49 will be particularly motivated by the Jimenez victory in 2014 when at 50 years and 133 days he lowered his own record as oldest European Tour winner.
No doubt Blandy will have his eye on that record next year but meanwhile this is his warm-up for next week’s defence of his one title at The Belfry, and he will be anxious to put himself in a positive mindset. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t as he was runner-up at the Dubai Desert Classic and made a better fist of the WGC Match Play than many bigger names, reaching the last 16 and giving mighty Dustin Johnson plenty to think about before going out.
There are possibilities about two Frenchmen who played well last week, Antoine Rozner (5th) and Victor Perez (8th). Both know how to win but it is a long time since they did so and the lack of confidence showed towards the end.
With top-tens under their belts, both can improve while it was also good to see forgotten Englishmen Tom Lewis and Eddie Pepperell looking more like their old selves. Pepperell has masses of ability but little self-belief and Sunday’s 15th for a share of 15th place should do put him right for this sterner test.
Straight-shooter Jason Scrivener (back in Europe after partnering Jason Day to a good tenth place in New Orleans), Jordan Smith, Haotong Li, who did us a big favour last week by nabbing the place part of the 66/1 by finishing sixth, Shubhankar Sharma and Thorbjorn Olesen are other eye-catchers but, birdie machine though he can be, Li may not get away with such erratic driving on this track.
Maybe the rain in Spain does fall mainly in the plain but it also fell in bucketloads in Tarragona and there’s more on the way at the weekend in Catalonia after a cloudy opening 36 holes. But if a Spaniard reigns in Spain for a second week (provided it’s the right one), we’ll be singing’ in the rain, won’t we?!
- Mexico Championship Golf Betting Tips 2022
Catalunya Championship Golf Betting Tips 2022
- 2pts each-way Adrian Otaegui at 25/1
- 1pt each-way Richard Bland at 28/1
- 1pt each-way Antoine Rozner at 50/1
- 0.5pt each-way Jason Scrivener at 70/1
- 0.5pt each-way Eddie Pepperell at 140/1
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