Caldwell secures best finish as Otaegui wins at ‘home of golf’
CLANDEBOYE’S Jonathan Caldwell clinched a career-best finish as Spain’s Adrian Otaegui closed with a stunning 63 to win the Scottish Championship.
Playing in just his 31st European Tour event, 2007 Walker Cup star Caldwell (36) bounced back from two early bogeys with four birdies, carding a two-under 70 to tie for seventh on 14-under par at Fairmont St Andrews’ Torrance Course.
It was the Bangor man’s second top-10 finish of the season following his share of eighth in the British Masters at Close House in July and after picking up the second biggest cheque of his career – €26,193 to take his season’s earnings on his return to the European Tour to €105,222 – he’s gunning now for his first top-five finish.
“It’s great because I’ve been playing nice in spells and had a couple of good first and second rounds and given myself some good chances and not done much over the weekendsds and gone the other way,” Caldwellwell (pictured) said. “So I did a bitit of thinking about how I was approaching the weekends, and it has obviously worked.
“I didn’t have my best overer the weekend, but I hung in there, and I putted nicely which takes the pressure off the long game.”
It was an even more memorable week for Basque star Otaegui (27), who was determined to claim his first strokeplay win on the European Tour after successes in the 2017 Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play and 2018 Belgian Knockout.
He achieved his goal in style too, carding a nine-under 63 to come from four strokes behind Matt Wallace and win by four strokes from the Englishman, who shot 71, on 23-under par (€161,925).
After making eight birdies in his first 11 holes to surge clear, he made two more in his last four to become just the third SSpaniard after Seve Ballesteros and Rafa Cabrera Bello to win a to tour event in Scotland.
Ryder Cup skipper Pádraig H Harrington closed with a 68 t to finish tied 14th (€14,287) on 12 12-under, and after clinching two top-14 finishes in his first four starts sta since March, he has tentatively entered next week’s Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour.
“I drove the ball great for the four weeks. My chipping was terrible, my wedge play was terrible, but I couldn’t be in a happier place with my game.”
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry saved the best for last and closed with a five-under 67 to finish tied 29th in the clubhouse on five-under in the CJ Cup in Las Vegas. Rory McIlroy’s 66 on Saturday gave him hope of a Sunday surge, however, three dropped shots at holes 14 and 15 saw him fall out of contention towards a top-10 finish.