First top 10 finish of the season! – Lindell: "There's still a lot more to come."
Oliver Lindell continued his strong form this week in Bahrain, playing his best tournament of the season so far. A final round of 68 (-4) lifted the Finn to T9 with a total score of -13. Lindell’s previous top 10 finish came in September at the Amgen Irish Open, where he finished seventh.
The Porvoo native had a challenging start to the final round, carding the only bogey of the day on the opening hole. After that, Lindell sank five birdies without making any major mistakes in the final round. This was enough to lift him into the top ten.
“A really challenging start to the round. I hit a good wedge, but the ball rolled off the green, and I took three putts from a ‘basic spot’. After a bunker save on the fourth hole, the game started to roll well. On the tenth hole, I hit a drive onto the green, from where I took three putts. It was a challenging line, and I was left with a difficult downhill putt with a big break, which I couldn’t sink. Otherwise, it was a really good day.”
The Finnish player has had a strong start to the season, and Lindell, who is in good form, will continue his competitive streak again next week.
“Yes, there’s still a lot left in store. Next week, one of my favourite courses in Qatar is coming up. There, we’ll be back on tough greens, as this week’s soft greens caused problems. It was challenging for me to hit from less than 130 metres, as I had to hit the ball all the way to the flag and couldn’t bounce the ball at all,” said Lindell as he packed his luggage for Qatar.
Calum Hill, who started the day at the top of the leaderboard, collapsed on the final hole with a bogey on the third putt, leaving three men tied for the lead. He is followed by last week’s winner Patrick Reed and Freddy Schott, who also played in the leading group. The trio was four strokes ahead of Lindell with a score of -17.