Lindell pulled himself together brilliantly after a difficult start – “My best ball striking performance of the season in tricky conditions”
Oliver Lindell put in a fine performance on the third round of the Danish Golf Championship, which saw him climb back into the top ten. His overall score of -8 is enough for a share of 10th place, alongside, amongst others, two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson. What makes his round of 70 – played in challenging wind conditions – particularly impressive is how the Porvoo native pulled himself together after a difficult start.
Lindell’s round began with two sloppy bogeys, but these turned out to be his only scores over par on Saturday. His ball-striking in the strong wind was astonishingly consistent, even better than at any other time this week – or indeed this season.
“It was a sluggish start to the round. I missed my opening shot on the first hole, but the ball ended up in a tricky spot. On the second, my opening iron shot was poor and the ball came to rest in a dreadful lie, halfway between a rough and a semi-rough. On the third hole, I hit another poor five-iron, but that turned out to be the last one of the round. From then on, I played at my best level of the season, even in really tricky wind conditions,” said Lindell, reflecting on the day’s successes.
On the greens, however, the Finn was not at his best – or even close to it. Lindell managed to create good birdie and even eagle opportunities hole after hole in the strong wind, but he failed to capitalise on them, even though the ingredients for a top round were there.
“I couldn’t sink any putts today. I missed four 2–3-metre putts, which really dampened my spirits. The putts were good, but I read the lines slightly wrong. The wind also made it harder to find the lines. Towards the end, though, I managed some good 1.5-metre putts, so there’s still a chance for tomorrow. The conditions are going to be tough, so there’s a good chance to climb the leaderboard, provided I can find the same rhythm.”
Lindell has shown some superb comebacks this season following challenging early rounds. Strange as it may sound, the difficult weather conditions actually help in this regard. You know that others are bound to make mistakes too.
“It’s not great to start off like this. I did find myself thinking again that it was Saturday and a good chance to make a big comeback, and yet here I am with such a sluggish start. A few good swings turned things round, though, and some easy birdies helped turn the tide. I knew it was going to be tough, and it’s the same for everyone else.”
Today’s ‘easy birdie’, which turned the round around, came on the fifth hole, where Lindell smashed an opening drive of no less than 380 metres. This also goes some way towards illustrating just how strong the wind was in Denmark today. The hole was played into a strong tailwind.
Lindell is six strokes behind the leader, Romain Langasquet (-14). Antoine Rozner, the other Frenchman who had been at the top of the leaderboard for a long time, suffered the same fate as many others on the final hole. His tee shot ended up in the water and a double bogey knocked him off the top spot. The 18th hole, where Lindell also carded a double bogey yesterday, is the most difficult hole in the tournament. It is set to provide a thrilling finale to the tournament on Sunday.