Lindell striked the ball brilliantly, but struggled on the greens and is nervous about making the cut – “Maybe that one miss would even wake me up”
Oliver Lindell’s round on Friday was a tale of two halves. His ball-striking was top-class, but his play on the greens, by contrast, was inferior. The DP World Tour’s results service made the situation look even bleaker than it actually was due to scoring errors. There were several entries for putts missed from within a metre, which were, however, incorrect. Lindell clarified the situation after the round, but made no excuses whatsoever for his poor putting.
“The birdie putt on the 18th hole, which was just over a metre, made me laugh even before I took it, as it had once again been recorded in the stats as half a metre. I missed a one-metre putt today, and in reality I didn’t sink a single putt. None of the really short ones went wide, but I missed six putts from within 1.5 to 3 metres.”
The birdie putt on the final hole, just over a metre long and coming after an eagle attempt, was a tough one but a vital sink after three consecutive bogeys. It kept his hopes of making the cut for the 23rd consecutive time alive and, at this stage, even looking likely. The cut line is highly likely to be set at either -3 or -2. Lindell, tied for 54th place, has round scores of 71-71 for a total of -2, which, according to statistics services, is the most likely score to make the cut.
Given today’s standard of play, however, the Finn should be in contention for the top spots, not teetering on the cut line.
“Perhaps it would do me good to miss the cut once; that might just wake me up. Today was a completely different day compared to yesterday; of course, the wind was steady and easy. My poor putting is starting to get under my skin, though. Basically, in every situation where those one-stroke swings come into play, I miss the putt and lose that stroke,” Lindell lamented.
The Porvoo native produced his usual top-class ball-striking in calm conditions. He recorded 11 out of 14 fairway hits and an impressive 12 greens in regulation. On the front nine in particular, birdie opportunities presented themselves on virtually every hole. He carded two birdies on the front nine – and the same on the back nine. The 20-metre putt on the 13th hole was the highlight of the day on the greens.
The first poor shot didn’t come until the 15th hole. In fact, it turned out to be the only weak swing of the day, although there were a few misjudgements towards the end of the round.
“Ball-striking felt really easy and turned out well. On the 15th hole, I hit a 5-iron into the woods on the left; I don’t know what happened there, but it was definitely the worst shot of my entire career. On the next hole, I hit a good 7-iron from the fairway bunker exactly where I wanted it, but the ball just dropped into the back bunker. I chipped it out nicely to within a metre, but the putt went straight with the grain to the right and rolled out. My approach on the 17th came up a couple of metres short and spun all the way down the slope, from where I chipped out well again, but I completely misjudged the break on the putt.”
Ricardo Gouveia and Stefano Mazzoli are tied for the lead at -9. Tapio Pulkkanen is in a virtually impossible position, as he would need to finish at least seven under par in his round, which tees off at 14.40.