Otto roars back to form with 63
SOUTH African veteran Hennie Otto was delighted to see his hard work paying off as he posted a brilliant nine under par 63 to take the firstround lead at the China Open yesterday.
Otto won his third European Tour title at the 71° OPEN D’ITALIA in 2014 but has struggled to find his best form since, failing to register a top 10 and making just two cuts so far this season.
His sensational effort yesterday, containing an eagle and seven birdies, was just his second round in the 60s this season and handed him a two-shot lead over Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger.
Topwin Golf and Country Club is hosting its first European Tour event this week, and with low winds for the early starters Otto was delighted to get his short game going and sink some putts.
“I played really well today,” he said.
“The first hole I saved a good par, and I think that gave me momentum. After that I hit it really close. I broke 30 putts this week.
“You have to hit it in the right places, and that’s the thing I did today. I hit them close, that makes a big difference. I’ve worked hard on my putting.
“It’s a nice golf course. The greens are not what we’re used to but we’ve got a few courses in South Africa with the same type of grass and the slopes, so we adapt quickly.
“I’ve been playing well, I haven’t been putting well. I’ve been working hard on it and today it showed. I’ve always got a good frame of mind every week, but it’s just my putting let me down, and today it came through.”
The highlight of Otto’s round was a chip-in for eagle on the eighth – his 17th hole – and the 39-year-old admitted that it was not a difficult shot once he had put his second in the right place.
“I knew if I just hit it on the right-hand side you’ve got an easy chip up the slope,” he said.
“When I got there I just saw the line and made sure, trying to pitch it and it ran in.”
After starting on the 10th, he birdied the 11th, 15th and 17th, and then really found form as he picked up birdies on the second, third, fifth and seventh before that chip-in.
Wiesberger turned in 33 and a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th saw him threaten to catch Otto before a bogey on the 14th stalled momentum.
He bounced back well, though, with birdies on the 15th and the last.
Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, Swede Peter Hanson, Finland’s Roope Kakko and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti were then all at six under.
Kakko was blemish-free with six birdies, while Hanson had gains on the third and sixth before he eagled the eighth and added further birdies on the 11th and 15th.
Zanotti was just a roll away from a hole in one on the sixth as he made eight birdies in his 66, with Bourdy registering seven, six on the front nine after starting on the 10th.
In-form Dutchman Joost Luiten was then at five under alongside Swede Alex Noren and Spaniard Borja Virto Astudillo, with 12 players a shot behind. – European Tour