Lindell met his minimum target by making the cut for the 25th consecutive time in Austria – “We finished the round thinking that tomorrow morning brings a new opportunity”
Oliver Lindell once again met the minimum target at the Austrian Alpine Open, making the cut for the 25th consecutive time despite some lacklustre shots at times. Friday’s afternoon round, played in slightly more challenging conditions, ended with a score of 70 (par). His total score of -4 after two rounds puts him in joint 42nd place.
“The start of the round was tough again. On the third hole, I missed the fairway with an iron – something I rarely do – and my shot from the rough flew over the green and landed in a bad spot. The putt hit the hole but didn’t go in. That was the difference between today and yesterday, when the putts wouldn’t drop. I putted well, but there were plenty of lip-outs in the round.”
“We finished the round by playing it safe, thinking that we’d have another go tomorrow morning and didn’t want to ruin our chances for the weekend. I knew it would take a single bogey, as the finish of the course is quite challenging. The up-and-down on the 16th hole – saving par – was important,” said Lindell.
The Finn improved his game off the tee, particularly on the par-5s, but his approach shots were, on average, even weaker than on Thursday, and there were hardly any good birdie opportunities. The wind, which had picked up since yesterday and was particularly changeable, caused several errors on his approach shots. The round was largely a battle for par scores with good putting. A significant factor in the drop in his score was that the near-misses and lip-outs on Friday no longer found the hole.
“Midway through the round, I hit some good drives on the par-5s right down the middle of the fairway, which allowed me to hit 6-irons onto the green and make easy birdies from there. I managed to turn things around, until, just like yesterday, I hit a poor tee shot on the 13th hole (par 3) into the rough in front of the same bunker. I haven’t been able to get the ball to fly high on that hole, which means I don’t get the benefit of the high air and the ball doesn’t fly.”
Although Lindell only just made the cut on paper by two strokes, he is just four strokes off a top-five finish. England’s Andrew Johnston, who produced a strong morning round, took the lead with a score of -11.
Lindell will tee off on Saturday at 9.40 am Finnish time alongside Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard.