Lindell moved to within three strokes of the lead – the legendary Old Course awaits on Saturday
Oliver Lindell stepped up his birdie-making game during his second round on Friday at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He carded no fewer than seven birdies and one fewer bogey than the previous day – two in total. His round of 67 (-5) brings his total to -7. This represents a significant leap of around 30 places up the leaderboard to joint 17th.
Today’s round at Kingsbarns Golf Links was easier than yesterday’s at Carnoustie, and Lindell wasn’t entirely satisfied with his performance overall, despite the better score. As was the case yesterday, the round included a few three-putt holes on the slow greens. A few misjudgements in the strong wind also left a bitter taste on Friday.
The first bogey came as early as the second hole of the day, due to a poor club choice. The Porvoo native quickly made up for the mistake by scoring three birdies on the next four holes. The second bogey of the round also came on one of the course’s most difficult holes, which has an average score of over par.
“On the second hole, I hit the wrong club over the green and couldn’t make par from there. The ninth hole was also a disappointment, as I again hit a par-five green with two shots and had to settle for a par with three putts from the lower level of the green.”
Making birdies naturally requires sinking putts, and the putter has shown signs of improvement in the third country of the British Isles following two weaker weeks.
“I sank a couple of good putts on the back nine, although on the 15th I had a proper 360-degree lip-out. On the 17th, my approach shot landed at the back of the green, where I also took three putts. I still managed two good shots on the tricky final hole, and a five-iron set me up for a good birdie opportunity. I just couldn’t sink it,” Lindell summed up.
With his game developing in the right direction, Lindell remains in contention to win this prestigious tournament. The leader didn’t pull three strokes clear on Friday, and the upcoming rounds at St Andrews are not, on the face of it, among the most challenging stages of the tournament.
“It was an all right day; it would have been a good performance if I’d managed to finish on -7 today. On both days, I should have shaved a few strokes off my score, but we’re still very much in the running.”
Four players are tied for the lead at -10. Of these, Casey Jarvis still has one hole left to play, but the South African, who carded six birdies on seven holes on the front nine, has since shown signs of human frailty.
Lindell will tee off on the third course of the tournament – the most legendary of them all, the Old Course – on Saturday at 11.22 Finnish time. He will be joined by Belgium’s Thomas Detry.