Lindell repeated yesterday's performance and will be fighting hard for a top 10 finish tomorrow – "The atmosphere here is fantastic"
Oliver Lindell was not content with just making history by becoming the first Finnish player to make the cut in his major debut; his fine form continued on Saturday. Lindell played his third round at The Open with a score of 68 (-3), the same as yesterday, and is tied for 14th place.
The stage is set for an exciting final day, as virtually all expectations have already been exceeded and the last day promises to be a great atmosphere. He is currently just one stroke off a top 10 finish. The feeling that he could repeat his top round came already during the warm-up.
"There was quite a 'stripe show' on the range this morning, meaning I hit perfect shots throughout the warm-up. My iron play was definitely behind today's good result. I haven't thought much about my result, I've mainly been thinking that this will soon be over and the atmosphere here has been amazing with so many spectators. The grandstand on the 18th hole was completely packed today," said Lindell.
Lindell started his round brilliantly, just like yesterday. He made another birdie on the opening hole, as he had done on the previous two days. This was followed by an excellent eagle attempt from 20 metres on the second hole, which fell just short of the cup, resulting in a tap-in birdie, and the Finn rose to the top 10. However, this was followed by a bogey on the third hole, which was his first mistake in his brilliant putting game so far. After that, Lindell returned to his reliable short game and putting and was able to make five pars and one birdie on the front nine.
"I've had a good start to my rounds, which has been a good foundation on which to build."
After the opening day, Lindell hoped to be able to take better advantage of the par 5s on the course than he did in the first round, and he has succeeded in doing so. The par-5 holes were again three strokes under par today, and each one saw a potential eagle attempt. After some good tee shots, Lindell was able to approach the green with his irons.
"There were a few eagle attempts today, and one of them rolled right around the cup. The others stayed on the edge of the cup, from which I was able to make easy birdies. I gave myself a good number of birdie opportunities. Unfortunately, I had a three-putt bogey on the third hole, and my tee shot on the 11th hole went into the bushes, from where I had to hit a lay-up. Those were the only major mistakes of the day, but overall I played really well," Lindell said.
On the back nine, Lindell managed to make two more birdies and one bogey. In addition, he made some great par saves, including one from a greenside bunker.
At the top of the competition, world number one Scottie Scheffler is once again making an impressive showing. He leads the competition by three strokes with a score of -13.