Lindell battled to an under-par score – “I could hardly hit the ball off the tee”
Oliver Lindell maintained his position at the Volvo China Open by carding his second sub-par round (-1) on Saturday. His push towards the top of the leaderboard was halted by a string of bogeys midway through the round. No fewer than four bogeys were recorded on holes 6–13. Lindell had started the day strongly, sitting two under par after four holes.
“I got off to a strong start today. On the sixth hole, I hit my tee shot down the middle of the fairway and then my approach shot into the lake, after which things got difficult. I couldn’t seem to hit the ball off the tee with my woods. That led to quite a few slices, until I finally managed my first good tee shot on the 17th hole.”
The Finn ended his round on a high note, which significantly improved his position ahead of Sunday. Finishing with two birdies means a total score of -4 and a tie for 32nd place. As a result, a top-10 finish is just four strokes away, making it a realistic target for the final round.
“Towards the end, I managed to hit some good approach shots and make birdies, and those put me in a decent position to move up the leaderboard tomorrow. The birdie on the last hole came via the pavilion terrace, where I was granted relief and managed an up-and-down. The precision was on a whole different level today, as I had to hit approach shots two or three clubs longer. I wasn’t hitting such long drives off the tee that I was constantly using a 6- or 7-iron, rather than a 9-iron or a pitching wedge, as I did yesterday.”
Lindell’s less impressive day off the tee was also reflected in the number of greens hit, which was significantly lower today than on previous days.
“It was hard to get anything going, and I couldn’t sink my putts at the same rate as yesterday. A few pin positions were in slightly trickier spots, but otherwise the conditions hadn’t changed. I didn’t feel bad about my swing at all; it was just that my tee shots were off,” said Lindell.
The player from Porvoo will be joined by a Nordic partner for his final round. He will tee off alongside Denmark’s Jeff Winther on Sunday at 4.25 am Finnish time. Lindell has played all three rounds so far with Germany’s Freddy Schott.
Adiran Otaegui (-16), representing the United Arab Emirates, shot his way to the top of the leaderboard with a blistering round of 62. His current total score is already lower than last year’s winning score (-14). Otaegui won the Volvo China Open two years ago with a score of -18, which was her fifth victory on the main tour.