Lindell off to a brilliant start in Turkey – in the top 10 after his round
Oliver Lindell got off to a great start in the Turkish Airlines Open. His opening round score of 68 (-3) was enough to put him in 8th place after the round. The score certainly does not embellish the truth, as the birdies came thick and fast.
This was by no means solely due to the easy course, but rather to a determined playing strategy. Sticking to this strategy required a bit of nerve, as the group included the tour's longest hitter (Nienaber), who does not shy away from using his driver even on the tightest fairways.
"It was a good start to the competition, and the strategy worked really well. On the 18th hole, Wilco hit his drive over the water and was probably 100 metres further than me. I made a birdie and he made a par. Obviously, it's easier to get close to the flag with a wedge than with a six-iron, but my iron game is so strong at the moment that it's easy to hit the flag even from further away."
In the long run, those close calls even out, but today I managed to sink a couple of five-metre putts to make up for a couple of short missed putts. On the 14th hole, the one-metre lip-out was just too hard a putt, as the greens in the practice area are slower. Towards the end, I found the right speed control for my putts," commented Lindell.
The Finn's round got off to a flying start with two birdies on holes 11 and 12. He made a total of five birdies, while recording two bogeys. The bogeys were the result of the only weak shots of the day, which ended up on the rough.
"I missed a couple of wedges today from about 70 metres, even though they landed where I wanted them to. The hardness of the greens varied slightly, and partly because of that, I couldn't even get close with my wedge at times. If I can continue at this level and play three under every day, I can be satisfied. The course will become more difficult as it hardens. If I can keep my opening game the same as today, I'll be happy," said the Porvoo native, describing his day in more detail.
Martin Couvra and Tiger Christensen are tied for the lead with a score of -6. Tapio Pulkkasen has had a miserable start, as he is +4 after the 14th hole.