Lindell finished in the middle of the field in Barcelona – “Gusty winds are my nemesis – so it was an OK round considering that”
Oliver Lindell started his tournament in Barcelona with a score of 71 (-1). That puts him in T69 after the afternoon round, which started on the back nine. The score was at least respectable in the challenging afternoon wind, although it left a similar aftertaste to last week’s competition in Turkey.
“The main thing on my mind is to play another round just like last week. On the back nine (holes 1–9), my game was actually quite decent, apart from my second shot on the final hole, where I went for the green on a par-five. In the gusty wind, which is quite a nightmare for me, the result was still acceptable,” Lindell summed up.
Lindell got off to a good start with his putter, although he faced a few minor challenges with his driving. On the third hole of the day, he sank a six-metre birdie putt, but otherwise opportunities were few and far between on the front nine, with just two fairway hits to his name. In contrast, the Finn found himself in the bunkers at El Prat no fewer than eight times on Thursday.
Lindell’s tough spell came around the halfway point of the front nine, where he carded his only bogeys of the day.
“My approach shot on the 14th hole hit a tree to the right of the green and bounced well back. Overall, my game felt quite good, but there are just those awful shots in between. The swing just seems to get stuck sometimes – I’m sure there’s a slight technical error there too. The conditions this afternoon were also more challenging today; it was fairly calm this morning.”
The Porvoo native, however, played a round that went from strength to strength, which bodes well for Friday morning’s tee-off. The final ten holes included two birdies and eight pars, and his improved ball-striking opened up several birdie opportunities as well as one eagle putt that narrowly missed.
The experienced South African Shaun Norris carded a strong score of -8 this morning, putting him in the lead. The other Finnish player in the competition, Tapio Pulkkanen, struggled badly on his round. He carded a +5 and can be found at the bottom of the leaderboard after Thursday.
Lindell will tee off for his round on Friday in the third group of the morning at 9.00 am Finnish time.