Lindell's debut season culminates this weekend at the DP World Tour Championship
The DP World Tour season culminates on Thursday. Oliver Lindell will represent Finland in the tour's final competition, which will be played as usual on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. The tournament will feature the 50 best players in the tour rankings, as well as two bonus spots earned by Shane Lowry and Ludvig Åberg for their victories in the Ryder Cup. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who also won the DP World Tour Championship, will start the final in the top spot.
Oliver Lindell has prepared for the final tournament on a tight schedule after the Abu Dhabi competition, like the others. However, he has managed to fit in two full and one half preparatory rounds on the Jumeirah course in three days. In addition, he has spent a lot of time practising his putting during the training days. A last-minute invitation to Tuesday's Pro-Am changed his original practice plans, but he got everything he needed done and is ready for the season finale.
"It's great to be here, let's enjoy ourselves and, above all, play well. My swing was really good last week, and I've practised my putting here, so I'm confident that it will work. We'll see how it goes in the tournament. The Pro-Am day was really relaxed; I can't remember the last time I got to drive a golf cart like that," said Lindell.
The Porvoo native had some challenges in Abu Dhabi with getting used to the behaviour of the greens and reading them. At the beginning of the week, the feeling about the upcoming stage has already been different.
"Fortunately, the grass on the greens is a little different. I've worked on my stance and practised my movement. The biggest difference, however, is that the lines have been easier to read compared to last week. There is more grain on the greens, so you have to be careful with your speed depending on the direction of the grass growth."
The Finnish ace highlighted the expected shot locations in his pre-tournament thoughts, as usual.
"You have to succeed with par 5s, and the most important thing here is to hit the fairways, because the Bermuda rough punishes you severely when the ball sinks deep. The greens are really big again, so they should be easy to hit. There are a lot of fairway bunkers in play, and you'll get to know them well here if you hit crooked shots," Lindell said.
The assumption for this week's tournament is that a score of -20 could be enough to reach the top. Last week, that score was just enough for a top 10 finish.
A large crowd is expected for the final in Dubai, and Lindell has also attracted a strong support group to cheer on the Finn in the climax of the season. He will start the final tournament in 42nd place in the Race to Dubai rankings. The opening round will be played in order of ranking. Lindell will be joined on Thursday by Scotland's Grant Forrest. The pair will tee off for their round on Thursday at 7:05 a.m. Finnish time.