Otaegui beats Siem to Paul Lawrie Match Play title

Spain’s Adrian Otaegui completed an incredible comeback to beat home favourite Marcel Siem by 2&1 in the final of the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play at the Bad Griesbach resort in Germany.

Adrian Otaegui secured his first European Tour title by beating Germany’s Marcel Siem in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play. The home player had been three up at the turn but the Spaniard battled back to finish the stronger and claim the win.

Otaegui started the final slowly and was unable to find the putting form that had seen him dominate his semi final against his fellow Spaniard Alejandro Canizares.

Making nine straight pars to the turn, Otaegui found himself three down to Marcel Siem. The home favourite was fired up and desperate to secure the win on his turf. But Otaegui launched his fightback on the 10th, reaching the par-5 in two, securing a birdie and pegging the deficit back to two holes.

He was just one down after Siem bogeyed the following hole. The German extended his advantage again with a fine birdie on the 13th and that put him two up with five to play.

The old adage saying that advantage “never wins” held true on this occasion as Otaegui benefited from a short, missed putt by Siem on the 14th before leaving himself a tap-in birdie for another win on the 15th. Two further birdies followed on the 16th and 17th and the victory was Otaegui’s by 2&1.

"It's very, very special to have my first European Tour victory here at the Paul Lawrie. I'm so happy," he said. "The way I played the back nine being three down after nine holes, I played good golf.

3 Talking points from the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play

1 – Otaegui had come into the week as one of the favourites having finished in the top-20 in his last four starts on the European Tour. He deserved the victory, playing some superb golf through the week at Bad Griesbach. He made an incredible 31 birdies plus an eagle during his six matches. With the victory Otaegui has climbed to 41st on the Race to Dubai rankings.

2 – Marcel Siem was left sorely disappointed not to claim a home win and his fifth European Tour title. But he did succeed in a key objective for the week, namely to earn money towards securing his playing privileges on the European Tour for 2018. The 37-year-old picked up €116,500 and has moved to 87th on the Race to Dubai standings. With €281,000 earned through this season, he’s gone a long way to keeping his card.

Marcel Siem swing sequence:

3 – Johan Carlsson of Sweden won the battle for third place against Alejandro Canizares of Spain. Carlsson started strongly but Canizares battled back to lead at the turn. But, as in the championship match, the back nine witnessed a great comeback. Carlsson eagled the 12th, birdied the 14th and 15th holes then eagled the 16th to win the match by 3&2.

Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, Germany Aug 17-20 Purse: €1,000,000

1       Adrian Otaegui (Esp)                       €171,000 2       Marcel Siem (Ger)                  €116,500 3       Johan Carlsson (Swe)                      €67,500 4       Alejandro Canizares (Esp)                €55,000 T5     Alexander Knappe (Ger)          €38,500 T5     Anthony Wall (Eng)                         €38,500 T5     Chris Paisley (Eng)                          €38,500 T5     Robert Rock (Eng)                           €38,500

Note: Player in bold signifies Titleist ball usage