European Swing kicks off in Turkey – Lindell: "My iron game is good enough for practically anything at the moment."
The Turkish Airlines Open kicks off the European Swing series on the DP World Tour. For Finnish players, this means shorter flights and the opportunity to have their loved ones with them during the tournament weeks. Oliver Lindell is pleased with the move to Europe, having landed in Turkey on Sunday night/Monday morning.
From a local perspective, preparations have gone smoothly, and the range, practice areas and course have become very familiar during the first week. On Monday, he played a full practice round with fellow Finnish player Tapio Pulkkinen, and on the following days, Lindell played the front and back nines separately. He spent Wednesday afternoon at the tournament venue as a substitute player for Pro-Amin.
"It's nice to be closer to home, the flight here was nice and short. My swing has improved, but there has still been some variation between days," said Lindell.
He has done a huge number of repetitions, especially with the driver, which has been a headache in recent competitions. Representatives from Lindell's club supplier Cobra have been on site all week, and a new shaft has been fitted to the driver, the lie angle has been increased and weight has been shifted to balance the change. The aim of the change is to ensure that tee shots do not veer to the left, but rather to the right, if at all.
"I have more confidence in the new driver than in previous competitions. The shaft is now similar to the old one that broke. There is also plenty of space on the course, so I'm not too stressed about it at the moment, which means the situation is quite good in that respect," Lindell commented on the changes.
It is now easier to safely curve the ball from left to right with a fade spin, as the new adjustments have made the driver more similar to the old one, which broke at the beginning of the season.
Regnum Caryan's impressive course is not expected to pose an unreasonable challenge for players of this level, and the competition is sure to be fierce. The rough is fairly easy and cut short, and you won't get into trouble with missed shots as long as you know where you can miss.
If you want, you don't even need to dig your driver out of your bag very often. The par 71 course is not exceptionally long, and Finnish iron play is currently in excellent shape, so the goal from the tee is to stay in the game, which will enable good results in this week's competition. The easy greens will not challenge the soft-handed Porvoo native.
"This could well be a putting competition, meaning that the greens will decide the outcome. The course will no longer be watered during the competition, so the greens may become quite hard. My iron game is currently good enough for practically anything. The result will depend very much on how well I can get the ball from the tee onto the fairway. I am going into the competition in good spirits," Lindell comments on his expectations in more detail.
The tee time for Thursday's round is 9:25 a.m. from tee 11. Lindell will play the first two days with England's Pavan Sagoon and South Africa's Wilco Nienaber. Nienaber is known as one of the longest-hitting golf professionals.