Lindell fought his way into the top 10 in gruelling conditions after the interruption – “I’ve got a good feeling about today”
Oliver Lindell got off to a fine start at the KLM Open in Amsterdam following a two-hour thunderstorm delay. His score of -2 puts him in joint 7th place, with the afternoon starters still in the early stages of their rounds.
“That two-metre par putt sat there waiting for me for nearly two hours. I sank it and followed it up with a good up-and-down on the seventh hole. We reached the 8th via the fairway next to us, and I hit a good wedge right up against the flag; the birdie at the end left me with a really good feeling about the day. My ball-striking was good today, considering the conditions.”
The start of the round wasn’t easy this time either, as Lindell ended up making bogeys on some relatively easy holes. Even though these mistakes could have been avoided, he didn’t try to make up for them by making further errors or overplaying his hand. The familiar result eventually came of its own accord.
“The three-putt on the first hole and the thin shot with a 5-iron on the 18th fell short. Those were actually the only real mistakes today in these challenging conditions. I had to hit a 5-iron into a headwind from 150 metres, which says it all about the conditions,” Lindell explained.
Although Lindell didn’t record many fairway hits on paper, his shots were technically sound in difficult conditions. The ball was often just on the edge of the fairway, and the biggest challenge – the long grass at the sides of the fairways – remained out of play. The competition was suspended again at 17:16 Finnish time, precisely because of the strong wind,
“It rained in 10-minute downpours, so that strong wind was definitely the biggest challenge today.”
As play moved onto the front nine (the back nine on Lindell’s day), the Porvoo native began to get a grip on the game and fired off three crucial birdies, climbing back into the top 10 on the leaderboard. For a long time, it looked as though Sami Välimäki had got off to the stronger start of the two Finns, but he was forced to concede the lead to Lindell after a bogey on the final hole.
Lindell will start his second round at 15:05 Finnish time.