Lindell one stroke off the lead – an eagle from 111 metres crowned a brilliant round!
Oliver Lindell once again found himself right at the top of the leaderboard right from the start of the Qatar Masters. He shot a 66 (-6) on Thursday morning and is just one stroke behind the leading duo of Patrick Reed and Daniel Hillier in T3. Based on recent performances, this result is not at all surprising, but this time the round included more than just pars and birdies. Lindell did not score higher than bogey, but his card included one unexpected eagle.
“On the fourth fairway, I hit two perfect shots, and the ball found its way into the hole from 111 metres. It was a rather chaotic day, but despite everything, I played well. The wind was surprisingly strong, which made it difficult to hit the fairways. Surprisingly good results were achieved in those conditions, and fortunately the wind should be calmer tomorrow afternoon.”
Despite his excellent round, Lindell only hit 7 fairways, which is only half of his attempts. He hit 11 greens, so the Finn made good use of his opportunities and also made a few good saves. However, his good putting game this year contributed to another good round.
The Porvoo native did not yet show any ghost shots with his putter, but on the 13th fairway, one was seen in the middle of a more difficult period. This 20-metre putt was a turning point for the final round, as he ended up scoring four birdies on the back nine, even though he had struggled early on, especially off the tee. Lindell missed three of his tee shots into the fairway bunker. He described the rough as ‘chaotic’, which had to be avoided.
“The roughs here are worse than the fairway bunkers. A fairway bunker leaves you with practically the same lie as you would have had on the fairway. I hit one thick approach shot from a fairway bunker on the 12th hole, which ultimately backfired.”
“Takaysi had a really rough start. I managed to build up some good birdie opportunities from weak openings, and I even made a bogey on the 12th hole on top of that. After that, I sank everything from hole to hole, except for the 17th, which was also close. With the tailwind, I kept missing my tee shots to the right, but when the wind changed, I hit the fairway well. Another good start to the week,” said Lindell.
Lindell will continue his battle for the top spots on Friday at 10:25 a.m. Finnish time.