Adrian Otaegui might have thought he had made his last appearance in a LIV Golf invitational event in its inaugural season. But a magnificent victory at the Andalucia Masters two weeks ago has drastically enhanced the Spaniard's appeal for organisers of the rebel series, and he will now tee it up in the mega-money season finale in Miami.
Otaegui has only featured in three LIV events since defecting to the Saudi-backed breakaway, and has not played in one of Greg Norman's 48-man invitationals since a 45th place finish in Boston in September. CEO Norman has poached some of the world's biggest names in golf, including Open champion Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau, to his rival tour that has caused a huge division in the sport.
It appeared Otaegui had been indefinitely demoted to the sidelines, albeit still competing for elusive world ranking points on the DP World Tour that LIV remain without access to. The 29-year-old was one of the LIV rebels to successfully campaign to lift the ban imposed by DP World Tour chief Keith Pelley that stopped defectors playing on his tour.
And after creating an awkward but inevitable moment of history in becoming the first LIV player to win on a main tour, he is now hot property once again. Otaegui stormed to a scintillating six shot win at the famous Valderrama course, his fourth victory on the DP World Tour.
A court ruling on the involvement of LIV players on the DP World Tour is set to be made in February, but Otaegui is one of several players to switch between the two tours as Norman's series continues to disrupt the status quo. And in a move that will be met with further disdain by the DP World Tour, their recent winner Otaegui will now return for LIV's season-closing team event in Miami.
The LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Trump National Doral boasts a mammoth £44m purse, and Otaegui is guaranteed to go home with at least £220,000 as the bottom four teams each take home a share of $1 million (£880,000). And the in-form star's recall for the final LIV event will likely have been influenced by the publicity surrounding his recent Andalucia Masters triumph.
Lee Westwood and Pablo Larrazabal's brother Alejandro had argued Otaegui's superb week at Valderrama was undermined by a perceived deliberate ignorance towards his success from the DP World Tour and their social media channels, due to his status as a LIV Golf rebel.
But now, in what could be seen as a small win for Norman in golf's ongoing fierce civil war, the first LIV rebel to win on the DP World Tour has accepted his invite to return in Miami. Otaegui was chosen by captain Joaquin Niemann to play for his Torque GC team alongside Scott Vincent and Jediah Morgan in the 54-hole invitational between October 28-30.
