Lindell put up a fine fight and extended his run of making the cut to 26 tournaments
Oliver Lindell’s remarkable run in making the cut was in jeopardy for the first time in a long while, even halfway through Saturday’s round. The second round, played on Saturday, began in gruelling conditions due to the heavy rain that had battered The Belfry. The tournament organisers have done everything in their power to ensure the competition is played in full, but once again, the event was on the verge of being suspended.
The other half of the players, of whom Lindell is one, have suffered considerably more from the conditions. There were three interruptions on the opening day, and conditions on Saturday’s round were considerably more challenging than on Friday, when Lindell played just four holes.
“The conditions on the front nine were so dreadful that I wondered why the round wasn’t called off. The rain was coming down so hard, and the bunkers were filling up with water again. From the 11th hole onwards, we were able to play in decent conditions with just a light drizzle.”
The difficult conditions are also evident from Lindell’s scorecard, as he carded seven pars and two bogeys on the front nine, whilst on the back nine the bogeys gave way to two birdies. The Finn hit ten greens in regulation but failed to sink any putts, although he was very pleased with how his putting game felt. His overall score of -3 means he is tied for 27th place after two rounds.
“I putted really well again today. A one-metre putt on the 10th hole bounced straight to the right and missed as a result, but otherwise I played well on the greens. This sets me up well to move on to the next round soon,” said Lindell.
The third round will start no earlier than 6.00 pm Finnish time, with the aim of ensuring that all four rounds of the competition are played.
Marco Penge (-10), playing in only his fifth DPWT event of the season, took the lead with a superb round of 65. Penge earned his place on the PGA Tour at the end of last season and has mainly been playing in the US this season.