Adrian Otaegui made nine birdies without a single dropped shot to set a new course record and catapult himself into contention on day two of the 2022 Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital.
The Spaniard is no stranger to going low on the DP World Tour and his nine-under-par effort at Al Hamra Golf Club was the fourth 63 of his career, to go with a pair of 62s.
It moved him to ten under, four shots off the lead held by David Law, and while Otaegui holed 131 feet of putts on day two, he felt the key to his round came from the tee.
"I think yesterday I played very well from the irons to the hole but I wasn't feeling very confident with my driving and today I did," he said.
"So today I hit so many fairways compared to yesterday and obviously I didn't have to fight to save some pars so I think that was the biggest difference.
"Yesterday I holed some good putts and today I holed some very good putts as well but I think the biggest difference was the driving and I felt a lot more comfortable with the driving today."
The 29-year-old sandwiched smart putts on the second and fifth with a pair of six-footers and added and an up-and-down at the eighth and an approach to ten feet at the ninth to turn in 30.
A 20-footer on the 13th was followed by a putt from the fringe on the 15th and when he made a seven-footer on the 17th, the course record was his.
"I tried to keep going, tried to keep giving myself some birdie chances," he said of his run of six birdies in eight holes on the front nine.
"I was feeling confident with my putting and I was rolling the ball very well.
"There was nothing really going through my mind... just the basics and keep going and I think we did very well."
