Adrian Otaegui put his accuracy off the tee to good use at the Kazakhstan Open as the young Spaniard moved to within three shots of Scott Arnold’s lead at the lucrative European Challenge Tour event at Nurtau Golf Club, Almaty.
The promising 20 year old was the second most accurate driver on The European Tour last season and, over a lay-out which handsomely rewards precision from the tee, Otaegui was thriving, adding a two under par second round of 70 to his opening 67 to move to seven under par.
Otaegui currently lies in eighth position on the Challenge Tour Rankings after an extremely consistent season and a strong result at the €400,000 event this week would go a long way in securing a return to The Race to Dubai in 2014.
“I started with a few pars today and then made two birdies on the front nine so that was nice,” said the San Sebastian native. “I made another birdie at the par five tenth and then had two bogeys at 14 and 15 but I made a good birdie at the par five 17th.
“Obviously you need to be straight from the tee and stay in play and if you do that you will have birdie chances. If you start to go right or left, the thick rough is tough to get out of.
“It suits my game alright, I go pretty straight from the tee so I can hopefully keep that going this week.
“My game is good at the moment and I hope to keep moving forward here. My mentality doesn’t change this week because it’s a big prize fund. I just want to have another good week and see where it takes me.
“A good result here would obviously be good for me in the Rankings but I’m just focussing on the week and nothing else.”
Otaegui was joined in tied fifth place by compatriot Luis Claverie as well as Frenchman Victor Riu. Meanwhile, former World Amateur Number One Arnold carded his second consecutive five under par round of 67 to move to the front on ten under after Day Two.
That handed the Australian, who counts cricket legend Ricky Ponting as a friend, a one-shot lead over Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl in Almaty, with 2008 Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson two shots off the pace in third as his revival on the Challenge Tour continues.
Photo: Phil Inglis