Adrian Otaegui reaped the rewards of his mentoring from fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal by seizing the lead at the Tshwane Open and coming close to firing the European Tour's first round of 59.
Otaegui, 22, who played most of his junior golf at his local club in the northern Spain seaside resort of Fuenterrabia, where 2012 Ryder Cup Captain Olazábal was born and raised, went round in 62 at Pretoria Country Club to sit pretty on 11 under par.
The youngster made his ninth birdie with an excellent putt at the 16th, meaning he needed to pick up two shots over the last two holes, both par fours, to create history on a sunny morning.
Otaegui came agonisingly close to a birdie at the 17th, chipping just to the right of the hole from the edge of the green, but could not manage the eagle he then required at the 514 yard last.
Indeed, he finished with a bogey, a sole blemish of his round, like on Thursday.
“It’s a tough par four and it's normally a par five,” he reflected.
Five of Otaegui's gains came consecutively from the eighth hole, a sequence he admitted being oblivious to.
“I was focused and didn’t know that I had made five birdies in a row,” he said.
“I was playing well and made a few putts, that’s all I was thinking about. The best golf is when you think as little as possible, and this was one of those days.”
His hot streak, made in ideal, sunny conditions that remained for most of the day, around the turn included a neat chip to within inches of the ninth pin and more fluent putting on the 14th green.
Otaegui, starting the day on three under and in the first group to go out, added: “Yesterday in the afternoon the fairways were a bit harder, so the ball was rolling a bit more. This morning the ball was flying less, because it was cool at 6.40 in the morning.
“The course is in good shape and it’s getting warm now, but I think it will hold up at the weekend.”
Otaegui, who last year missed out on retaining his place on The Race to Dubai but swiftly recaptured it by claiming the fifth card at the Qualifying School Final Stage, is primed to press for the first win of his relatively short European Tour career.
“I just have to be patient tomorrow. Let’s see if I’ve learnt something from these last two rounds,” he said.
Otaegui, who has moved to Biarritz but stays in touch with Olazábal, leads by two shots from South Africa's Merrick Bremner, who went round in four under thanks to seven birdies.
Joint overnight leader David Horsey of England is one shot further back, after a mixed round of one under, alongside Italy's Edoardo Molinari plus South Africans Keith Horne and Trevor Fisher Jnr.
Thursday's other front runner Morten Ørum Madsen, who hit a hole-in-one at the eighth in his first round, recovered somewhat from two double bogeys in his opening four holes to finish on five under overall.
Defending champion Ross Fisher is one behind Madsen after a round of three under. He was being closely pursued by Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke ahead of a late afternoon delay due to the threat of lightning, after which Clarke made his second double bogey of the day to slip back to two under.
Clarke still comfortably ensured he is back at the weekend, sitting three shots clear of the cut.
