Lindell got off to a strong start with a round of 10 – "You feel secure on the course when you know your putt is on point."
Oliver Lindell opened the first Rolex Series competition of the season strongly with a score of -2. With the exception of the opening, the round went exactly according to plan, and he is currently in ninth place. At six in the morning, he said that he would be happy with a par score today, as strong winds were still blowing in the dark at the Emirates Golf Club.
“I hit the ball well and the putt went in. On the tenth hole, I was unsure about my driver because the tailwind was strong and, as a fade player, a shot that veered to the right could have been out of bounds at worst. The shot hit the first tree on the left and I ended up in the desert, where I had to take relief. There were better spots, but it was the only bad shot of the day,” Lindell summed up.
The good putting form he found in the last competition had not disappeared during the couple of days in between, and his scoring ability remained strong on the opening day. It is easy to see that Lindell, who is playing his second season on the main tour, enjoys competing at the top level. He patiently sticks to his smart game strategy even in the biggest competitions of the season, as his own performance is always enough to put him among the leaders on a good week.
“It was a sensible game, all the missed shots were in places where it was easy to get at least a par. For example, the bunkers are all similar and in good condition. It feels safer on the course when you know that you have a chance to sink the ball whenever you get within five metres of the flag. I even felt that some of the putts from ten metres could have gone in. On the back nine (hole 14), I missed the only short putt of the day, but otherwise I sank all my putts from within three metres.”
The wind is expected to die down over the next few days, whereas on Thursday it was blowing at around ‘two miles per hour’. In Lindell’s opinion, the conditions on the field seemed even easier than anticipated.
Looking at the leaderboard, it is noteworthy that there is not a single player ahead of Lindell who is ranked higher than him in the world rankings. The biggest pre-tournament favourites struggled slightly in the opening round. Among the big names, Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton are tied at -2.
“It’s going to be a good week if we continue like this, with hardly any bogeys on the card. In the previous round, I played +7 when the wind was just as strong. This time, at least I didn’t play myself out of the game, so I can be satisfied. With these conditions, anything is possible,” Lindell predicts.
The leaderboard is headed by the 2018 Open champion, Francesco Molinari of Italy, with a score of -7. Lindell will tee off for his second round at 10:05 Finnish time.