Golf’s bitter civil war continued its prickly relationship over the weekend, with LIV defector Adrian Otaegui claiming a six-shot win at Valderrama.
It was the 29-year-old’s fourth win on the DP World Tour, and came despite the Spanish golfer playing in three LIV tournaments in the inaugural season.
Otaegui managed to play in the tournament because he was one of three professionals – along with Ian Poulter and Justin Harding – who sought and won an injunction to play in the Scottish Open. A February hearing will determine whether the likes of Otaegui can continue playing on the tour.
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The Telegraph’s golf correspondent James Corrigan said his victory was a little win for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series.
“Although Adrian Otaegui’s victory in the Andalucia Masters on Sunday hardly caused a vitriolic explosion – social media apart, of course – there can be no doubt that the Spaniard’s dominating success would have been celebrated on the Saudi circuit and lamented in the corridors of the DP World Tour’s Wentworth HQ,” Corrigan wrote in The Telegraph.
Indeed, there was little fanfare surrounding Otaegui’s course record, where he finished the tournament at 19-under – six shots clear of Joakim Lagergren and a further three shots clear of Australian Min Woo Lee.
As he started the final day six shots clear, tour veteran and fellow LIV defector Lee Westwood fired a shot at the DP World Tour, asking why such little attention had been shown to Otaegui.
Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald also had people talking about his own tweet, where the Brit wrote a pointed message.
“A quite dominant performance from Adrian Otaegui setting a tournament record around Valderrama – impressive control mentally & physically around one of Europe’s toughest tracks,” Donald tweeted.
His tweet comes with many questions still hanging over next year’s tournament in Rome, with LIV’s defectors unlikely to be granted permission to play.
It comes despite Jon Rahm calling for the players to be allowed to play, insisting “The Ryder Cup is not the PGA Tour and European Tour against LIV – it’s Europe versus the US, period.”
As Corrigan pointed out, the irony is Otaegui was scratched from the past three LIV events, with the field limited to 48 players.
Otaegui’s win, however, showed he would be ranked inside the top 20 players of LIV was it ranked purely on current form rather than pedigree.
Nonetheless, February’s ruling carries significant weight given he hasn’t earned selection for the LIV Golf Series in recent weeks.
It comes as Brooks Koepka ended his losing run on the LIV Golf Series, winning in a playoff to take home the $AU7.6 million first-prize.
By comparison, Otaegui took home just $AU792,656 for his win.
