Lindell hit 17 greens in regulation on the final round – his weakest performance on the greens all week
Oliver Lindell’s opening competition of the final stage left a bitter taste. The Porvoo native improved his ball-striking day by day, hitting 17 out of 18 greens in regulation during Sunday’s final round. Lindell was also putting birdies, on average, closer than on previous days. Unfortunately, his putter was ice-cold on Sunday, and his 17 birdie putts yielded just three successful strikes. The day’s only bogey was also the result of a three-putt.
A round score of -2 results in a total score of -10, which secures 25th place.
“I played some good shots today. The biggest problem was that I managed to hit all my approaches straight towards the flag. They often ended up in tight spots behind the flag, leaving me with tricky putts from 2–4 metres.”
The Finn’s improved ball-striking was the result of a strategic decision to leave the driver out of his game plan entirely after the opening shot of the third round. After that, his tee shots found the fairways with a high success rate, making the approach shots naturally easier.
“The biggest turning point of the weekend came from the decision to use a mini-driver off the tee. I saved a lot of strokes off the tee during the final rounds. My drives in the opening rounds cost me dearly this week. The tee shots hit with the mini-driver flew practically as far as my drives – and even further when I hit them just right,” said Lindell.
The most important tournament of the season is coming up as early as next week, and it is quite possible that the driver will remain firmly under the cover in Dubai as well. His 25th-place finish keeps Lindell firmly in the running for a place on the PGA Tour.
“It’ll be interesting to see what sort of game plan we settle on next week. We’re not far off a situation where the driver might be left out entirely next week. If I hit the mini-driver in the same way as I have for the last 35 holes here, and my iron play stays on form, I should have a better chance of success next week. The Jumeirah course is tighter than Yas Links, and the competition isn’t quite the same kind of birdie extravaganza.”
Jon Rahm (-23) has taken a two-stroke lead at the top of the leaderboard over Tyrrell Hatton. Rory McIlroy is third, four strokes behind the Spaniard, who has three holes left to play. If the decision to ban LIV Golf players from competition stands, this week’s top three would bode well for Lindell’s move to the PGA Tour.
“A solid week, and more points in the bag. 72 holes left to play, and we’ll be wiser after that.”