Spaniard Otaegui's late surge to win Paul Lawrie Match-play

Adrian Otaegui with the trophy, courtesy Getty Images Seven years almost to the day since he won the British boys' championship in Scotland, Spain's Adrian Otaegui produced a stunning fightback to beat home favourite Marcel Siem 2 and 1 and win his first European Tour title at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play tournament in Germany. Siem was three up at the turn and two up with five holes to play but Otaegui won the 14th with a par and then made three birdies in a row to claim his maiden win in his 123rd event. The Spaniard arrived at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach off the back of four consecutive top 20 finishes, and was the form player heading into the final, having completed all five previous matches without reaching the 18th hole. He made nine pars on the front nine as Siem birdied the first, fourth and eighth holes but won six of the eight holes after the turn - including the final four - making five more birdies in the process while staying bogey free. Siem was fired up from the off and hit an approach to eight feet on the first, pointing at the hole as he made the putt to go one up. He went on to birdie the fourth and eighth holes, but Otaegui turned the tables, winning six of the eight holes after the turn - including the final four. He made five more birdies in the process while staying bogey free. Swede Johan Carlsson beat Alejandro Cañizares of Spain 3 and 2 - with the help of three eagles - in the earlier match to decide third and fourth place.  Player quotes Adrian Otaegui: "It's very, very special to have my first European Tour victory here at the Paul Lawrie. I'm so happy. “I didn’t start very well at the beginning. I was very quickly two down. Marcel was playing very good golf, he was hitting very good iron shots into the greens. He holed some good putts, which I didn’t. I didn’t hole any putts on the front nine. “I was a bit worried at some points. Then suddenly it clicked and I made a few birdies on the back nine. I just wanted to keep fighting until the end. “I came from the 16th one up which was the first time I was up in the game. It was 160 into the wind. I hit a good six iron, I just wanted to play just right of the pin. “I got solid contact and it was a good shot just five, six metres right of the pin and we were pretty much the same distance Marcel and I. It was me to putt first and I made a great putt, and holed it straight in the middle. It’s just an amazing feeling.” Marcel Siem: “I was totally in control, I just had to keep making birdies and pars. He didn’t make any mistakes all day. I’m really upset, it’s really disappointing. It was right there on a silver plate for me today. “There’s nothing better than having a tournament win under your belt, having an exemption for next year. A lot of things I thought about last night I should have thought about on the back nine. Thomas BjØrn is the team captain for The Ryder Cup on my favourite golf course where I won before. “Having an exemption under my belt, I would have had a chance to play in every tournament. I’m still in there, but with an exemption going into 2018 it’s a bit easier to schedule everything and try to get into the team. I totally forgot about that on the back nine to be honest. That was my motivation.” The full results list, tournament draw matrix and winner's briefing notes can be downloaded below: SEPLMP DRAW MATRIX.pdf SEPLMP PAIRINGS AND RESULTS.pdf Winner's Briefing Notes - Adrian Otaegui.pdf

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