The ball stuck in the tree cost dozens of places – Lindell: "It would be sad if it weren't so funny."
Oliver Lindell’s third round was full of challenges. He had occasional difficulties with his swing compared to this week’s level, and one player had more than his fair share of bad luck. In particular, his opening shot on the 17th hole, which got stuck in a tree, cost him dozens of places in the rankings.
“I only knew the ball was in the tree when I walked onto the green. I told my caddie that the ball couldn’t possibly be stuck in the palm tree. The ball would have been on the green, or at least on the fore green. The referee couldn’t prove with his binoculars that it was my ball. With binoculars, you could see that it was a Titleist 4, but my own markings weren’t visible from that angle. I had to go back to the tee to take another shot. The first shot was perfect and would have resulted in at least a par. You could hit 100 balls and still not succeed here – it would make you cry if it weren’t so funny,” said Lindell.
The first round of the week dropped the Finn from sixth place to T34. A round score of +3 means a total score of -2. His front nine kept him in contention, but a challenging back nine (+3) saw him drop back almost 30 places.
“I fought hard for a good result before the 17th hole. On the 18th hole, I hit two balls into the rough, from where I putted three more times. I can’t seem to get my opening shot right on the 10th hole, and today I had to take another penalty shot. On the front nine, I basically hit one bad shot (6th approach), which I made up for with a great birdie on the next hole.”
In the big picture, excellent putting and good iron play have kept the Finn in contention, but par fives have cost him too much ground on the leaders. The results in this high-level competition are extremely close. Lindell is still only three strokes behind 15th place.
“The whole week has been difficult on the par 5 holes. I still putted well, but I didn’t get any bonus putts today. A top 15 finish is possible when I get to play in the morning. That 17th tee shot can’t get stuck in the palm tree again tomorrow. I’ve had the ball get stuck in a tree on the Challenge Tour before,” Lindell laughed.
At the top of the competition, Patrick Reed consolidated his lead with a score of -14.
Lindell will start his final round on Sunday together with Germany’s Freddy Schott at 7:16 a.m. Finnish time.