Lindell's strong final round lifted him into the top 15 – "From tee to green, my game is in top form"
Oliver Lindell has found a new gear in his game as the DP World Tour has moved to his home continent. The third competition in the European Swing series was close to bringing him another career-best finish. The final result of -9 means a T13 finish, which is only one place worse than his career best in Turkey.
Lindell's Sunday round ended with the same score of -3 as the previous round, but he was even more satisfied with his performance than yesterday. The Finn's strong play was evident in his 12/14 fairway hits on Sunday, resulting in 15 greens in regulation. His scorecard showed five birdies and two bogeys in the final round.
"Today was my best performance of the week. One of my shots from the rough fell a couple of metres short of the green, resulting in my first bogey of the day. The second came on the 12th hole, even though I tried to hit a smaller club just to the front of the green, but it turned out to be a fiery iron shot that flew 213 metres through the air and bounced hard off the green into the water," Lindell said of the day's only mishaps.
His hitting was particularly strong on the last day of the week, but there were no miracles on the greens.
"I had a lot of strong shots at the end, but I just couldn't get anything in today. The greens were really difficult to read this week, but my overall performance was consistent, and I'm feeling good about next week."
The Porvoo native played an exceptionally consistent tournament in Austria, avoiding any major mistakes. This bodes well for the final competition of the season. As has been said before, it is only a matter of time before he achieves his first top 10 finish on the main tour.
"My game is in top form at the moment, from the tee to the green. There are always a few bad shots in a competition, but at the moment, anything is possible," Lindell said optimistically.
The confidence gained from the club updates in recent weeks has brought a new level of assurance and confidence to the Finn's game. The mini driver he used in the last tournament provides good firepower alongside the new driver he broke in this week. On Sunday, the Finn hit six tee shots with his new driver, which was the highest number of the week.
The 32-year-old surprise contender from Germany, Nicolai von Dellingshausen, is playing for his first victory in the competition and his career. Last week's winner, Kristoffer Reitan, is back in the running for the title, playing a fierce final round as he did last week. Lindell's familiar rival shot a -10 on Sunday and was close to becoming the second player in DPWT history to break the magical 60-stroke barrier with an eagle putt on the last hole. However, he ended up with his tenth birdie of the day, which will likely leave the Norwegian in second place.