Lindell carded five birdies on the tournament’s toughest course – his playing partner tomorrow is a five-time major winner
Oliver Lindell got off to a start of 70 (-2) in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, a three-course team competition. This puts him in joint 44th place after the opening day. Looking at the leaderboard after just one or two rounds does not tell the whole story in a competition where players compete on different courses. The Carnoustie course, where Lindell began his tournament, is, according to the statistics, the most difficult of the three courses.
Looking at last year’s statistics, the final two holes at Carnoustie – 17 and 18 – were among the most difficult on any course, and holes 15 and 16 also featured in the top six. The finish on the front nine, where Lindell ended his round today, is no walk in the park either. The final holes on the front nine were also played well over par last year, and the graphics shown during today’s broadcast indicated the same.
“On the 14th hole, I hit with two shots onto the green and made par with three putts. On the 17th hole, I hit a poor tee shot, which left me with only an option for a lay-up, and I couldn’t sink the putt. My tee shot on the 18th also ended up in a bunker, from which I had to play out sideways. I managed to get into a good position to save par there too. A decent start, though, on the toughest course in the competition.”
The tournament does not offer live shot-by-shot tracking, which makes it difficult to analyse the results, with the exception of the Old Course. However, the key to a good round was strong ball-striking and a high number of greens in regulation. Putting, which had been a struggle in recent tournaments, also took a step in the right direction, despite two greens in three putts.
“It was a good day in terms of my ball-striking. I can’t remember a similar situation where I didn’t have a single chip-shot around the green. My putting was good, even though I still took three putts on the seventh hole. The three-putts came from a long way off. I sank one longer putt today, and the other birdies came from 3–5 metres,” said Lindell.
Eleven players managed to post a better score than Lindell at Carnoustie today, based on a sample comprising one-third of the field – that is, those who began their round on the same tee.
A real surprise duo took the lead in the competition: Australia’s Jack Buchanan and one of the home favourites Michael Stewart, on -7. Stewart has played in just five DP World Tour events in his career, more than half of which were in the early 2010s. He has made the cut just once. Nor do Buchanan’s statistics include a single top-10 finish on the main tour.
Hot on their heels are no fewer than seven South Africans in the top 10. Also worth noting is the strong start by the Swedes, with as many as five of our western neighbours making it into the top 20.
Whilst the players change the course every day, the playing groups also change, with the exception of the amateur pairs in the team competition. Lindell is set for some truly exciting company in the second round, as his playing partner for the round starting at 12.06 Finnish time is five-time major winner Brooks Koepka. The American finished his opening round one stroke better than the Finn. The pair have only played one practice round together prior to tomorrow’s round at Kingsbarns.