Lindell fought his way into the weekend – with just seven fairways hit across two rounds
Oliver Lindell’s accuracy was still lacking on the second day of the Open de España. The Finn managed just three fairway hits – one fewer than the previous day. On Friday, Madrid’s tough rough also took its toll. A round of +1 sees him slip slightly down the leaderboard, but with an overall score of -1, he has comfortably made the cut. Lindell is currently tied for 36th place, so his prospects for the weekend are at least reasonable.
“My worst performance of the season off the tee. The feel on my shots was good, but on holes 1, 5–8, 10 and 12, I was aiming for a slight fade on every one, but ended up with a slight draw instead. It’s difficult to manage in that situation, because, especially here, missing the direction is the worst thing that can happen. The rough is like a field of spinach, and there are always at least some trees in front of you when you hit past the fairway. It was a real slog, but I fought hard and managed a couple of birdies on the back nine, which got me through to the weekend’s play,” said Lindell.
His short game (both putting and play around the green), which had been well in the positive in the opening round, remained strong, but his lacklustre ball-striking also continued. As usual, Lindell ranks among the tour’s best in the statistics measuring ball-striking performance from one tournament to the next. He couldn’t immediately put his finger on the cause of his poor driving, as his feel for it was actually positive.
“I’ve not really got a clue. My short game was on form again, and I managed to sink those few crucial putts this time. The greens had hardened up a lot since yesterday, and the ball rolled better, but they also became quite bouncy. On Sunday, we might be facing the toughest set-up of the whole season if the course gets any harder than this.”
The increasingly challenging conditions are also helping to drive a rise up the leaderboard, as it is unlikely that even two magnificent rounds would be needed to reach the top.
Sami Välimäki has performed one shot better than Lindell over two rounds, with a score of -2. Scottish flags have appeared among the competition’s top placings, with Grant Forrest (-9) taking the lead ahead of his compatriot Connor Syme and Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach (-8).