Lindell's impressive 75% cut rate continues – four birdies on the front nine ensured a good round
Oliver Lindell played the second round of the Austrian Alpine Open with a score of 68 (-2), giving him a total score of -3. The Porvoo native managed to make his way to the weekend for the third time in a row in a good position, tied for 28th place. Lindell has made the cut 12 times in 16 competitions this season, which is an impressive record.
The round started well, as it did yesterday, with Lindell, who started from the 10th tee today, scoring three birdies on the first five holes he played. However, he hit a rough patch on the back nine on holes 16 and 17, where Lindell made two consecutive three-putt bogeys.
"I played well today. I had a couple of unfortunate three-putts, one of which was a bit off the green."
These were almost offset by the first par five of the day, which ended the front nine. Lindell hit the 18th hole with two strokes about four metres from the flag and got into a good position for an eagle, but "only" a birdie was recorded on the card.
"Overall, hitting from the tee has become much easier, which helps significantly. Today, I only hit one tee shot with my new driver, which was good – otherwise, I've been using the mini driver a lot. The new driver still needs a little breaking in, but now that my place for the weekend is secured, I'll be able to use it more," Lindell said of his good opening game.
On a wet course, getting your tee shots on the fairway is so important that not reaching the green with a mini driver is not a problem. The balls also don't roll on wet grass, so this week the benefit of the driver compared to the mini driver is smaller than usual.
"With the mini driver, I'm 10-15 metres short, but they're all on the fairway, so it doesn't matter much if I'm a little short."
On the back nine, the Finnish player had more difficulty getting into birdie positions, as his approaches no longer hit the greens with their usual accuracy. Lindell made nine pars on the back nine (holes 1-9), some of which required some impressive saves, especially from the green bunkers.
"On the back nine, my club selection wasn't quite right, which meant that I was sometimes too long and sometimes too short. My play around the green was good, and I also sank a couple of good putts at the end of the round. This puts me in a good position for the weekend," Lindell summed up.
The competition is led by Germany, with Marcel Schneider (-11) managing to overtake his compatriot Nicolai Dellingshausen (-9). The cut line is likely to be set at -1, as in the Belgian tournament. Unfortunately, the other Finnish player, Tapio Pulkkanen, once again fell short of the cut with a score of +9.