Adrián Otaegui arrives at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid this week two years after his last visit. Since then, he has enjoyed a very positive season, and his first impressions of this week’s course could not be better:
“The course really is in very good condition, the greens are a bit softer than expected, but I’m sure they’ll get firmer throughout the week. In terms of condition, it’s the best year I’ve seen since we’ve been playing here”.
Adrián has four wins to his name on the DP World Tour, but it was not until 2022 that he claimed his first title in Spain, with a stunning performance at Valderrama. “Winning in Spain never meant added pressure for me, but it was really amazing to be able to do it with my people there”.
In 2022, he did not play in the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid, it was a schedule that worked well for him because his victory came the following week. He is confident that the two-week break he has just enjoyed may serve him in a similar way: “I’d played six weeks in a row because I needed as many points as possible for the Ryder Cup. It was clear that I needed a rest, because the end of the season is close and the batteries are running out. Although I always say that the best practice is competition, not doing anything for the last two weeks has worked well for me. It’s not so much physical wear, it’s remotivating yourself and resetting”.
If there is one thing that stands out about Adrián, it is his relaxed nature, seemingly unaffected by pressure, although under the surface there is a passion that took him closer than ever to his dream of playing in the Ryder Cup: “Of course, it’s something that you always think about, but in my case the motivation and desire are more necessary when it comes to practising. When I’m in competition mode, I’m concentrating on my game, I try not to let other things affect me. When you don’t play well, or badly, it’s not always because of outside influences or pressure from something in particular. We all go through good and bad spells during the season. The idea is for the bad ones to last much less time than the good ones”.
Finally, victory at the ACCIONA Open de España, is one of Otaegui’s biggest goals. In fact, he would put a win this week above something he has dreamt of since he was a boy: “If you asked me to choose between winning this week or Real Sociedad winning the Champions League, I’d choose the first because it’s something I can hold in my hands, but they’re not mutually exclusive, so hopefully I get both!”.
