Lindell heads into the final round just two strokes off the lead!
Oliver Lindell played some brilliant golf again on Saturday in challenging conditions in Amsterdam. The Finn had an early start to finish the four holes left over from yesterday, which included three birdies and one double bogey. The birdie floodgates opened again in the afternoon at the end of the third round on the same holes.
The double bogey on the 16th hole earlier in the morning was coolly made up for with a birdie some 10 hours later. Lindell followed that up with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes, finishing his round with three birdies. A total score of -8 lifts Lindell to T4, and he heads into the final round just two strokes off the lead. The lead is shared by Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra and Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg (-10).
“The weather was challenging again today; during the back nine, there were constant showers as well as wind. The whole day was a real grind – I managed plenty of up and downs, and my putting was on form again. Of course, in the wet conditions, a lot of my putts fell just short of the line.”
After the front nine, Lindell was on par for his third round, but his steady performance in difficult conditions paid off in the end, and he managed to avoid any major mistakes. The key on a links course has been to steer clear of major difficulties. On the back nine, his determined play paid off.
“On the back nine, I was slightly off the fairway with my tee shots, and sometimes I came up long of the flag and sometimes I came up short. I then played the last five holes of the day really well. I had a bit of luck on the 17th hole when the ball was heading past the left edge of the hole, or at best just over the edge. However, the ball bounced to the right of Gumberg’s marker and went straight down the middle of the hole,” said Lindell.
“I missed the greens to right places today, and it was easy to line up my approach shots to the greens and make some crucial up-and-downs.”
In challenging conditions on a difficult course, every player is bound to miss a few greens, and bogeys are inevitable in this tournament. Lindell’s only bogeys today came on the course’s two most difficult holes. One of them was a three-putt bogey from a distance of 30 metres. The most important thing is to accept them and make the most of the opportunities that good shots bring in a long tournament.
Lindell will tee off in the penultimate group of Sunday’s final round at 13:18 Finnish time. He will be joined in the chasing group by Yuto Katsuragawa and Maximilian Steinlechner.