Jon Rahm’s desire to be partnered by a fellow Spaniard later this year in Rome has been dealt a bitter blow with news compatriot Adrian Otaegui has been banned for a month from competing on the DP World Tour till the start of July.
Otaegui is the second highest-placed Spaniard on the European Tour points table, currently lying sixth behind Rahm who tops the table.
Otaegui, 30, has won four times on the DP World Tour including last November’s Andalucia Masters and herein lies part the reason the Spaniard has been banned for four events from competing on the Tour.
The Telegraph reports Otaegui has paid fines totalling roughly $300,000 (£240,000) for appearing in a quartet of LIV Golf events and has also accepted that he cannot tee it up again until after the British Masters at the Belfry at the end of the month.
Spaniard Adrian Otaegui hit by a four-event DP World Tour ban
One of those events, as mentioned, was his record-breaking six-shot success as a then LIV Golfer on the Costa del Sol while more-recently Otaegui was runner-up in last week’s KLM Open and hence his currently lofty sixth place on the European Ryder Cup points table.
His ban, that naturally has been hushed-up by the Tour, is the reason he’s not playing this week in the Porsche European Open while you will not find his name in the entry list for next week’s Scandinavian tournament.
Of course, four weeks without competition could seriously harm Otaegui’s chances of grabbing the third ‘automatic’ spot of the European Team table list given Rahm is currently No. 1 and Rory McIlroy No. 2 and should he miss out, it will mean needing a wildcard pick if he’s to be Rahm’s Rome playing partner.
The ban means Otaegui’s next event, if he chooses to play, will be the July 6th starting Made In Denmark.
The New Year dawned with the San Sebastian-born golfer pledging his allegiance to the DP World Tour for the 2023 season but, according also to The Telegraph, only when overlooked for a permanent 2023 LIV position though the newspaper also says he was paid £1M by LIV.
Rahm is a friend of his fellow Basque golfer had spoken last week, and after news Sergio Garcia could not represent Europe this year in Rome, how much he looks forward to an all-Spanish Ryder Cup pairing.
“A Spanish duo in the Ryder Cup is embedded into the roots of the Ryder Cup,” he said. “Look what Seve [Ballesteros] and Ollie [Jose Maria Olazabal] were able to do throughout their partnership.”
Both the DP World Tour and Otaegui’s management declined to comment on Otaegui’s four-tournament ban.
