The score in Scotland got out of hand – Lindell: "At least 4-5 putts were left on the course."
Oliver Lindell played a commendable round (68/-4) on the opening day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. However, the level of competition is fierce in the opening round, which is why even such a low score only puts him in 57th place with the day still to play.
Lindell, who started his competition at the Kingsbarns course, hit the ball with his usual strength, but the Finn was not at all satisfied with his performance on the greens. Low scores were recorded on this course on the opening day, and Lindell himself would have hoped for a better result.
"It's been like this all week, starting with the practice rounds. I'm leaving a lot of strokes on the greens, at least 4-5 strokes with the putter. It's been a challenging week for me, as I need to make a huge number of birdies, because the flags are 5-10 metres from the edges of the green, which means there are a lot of easy approaches and you can attack the flag without exception," said Lindell.
The Porvoo native started the competition strongly, with four birdies on the front nine and no bogeys on his card. Takaysi, on the other hand, had as many bogeys as birdies, one of each.
"I shouldn't have had a single bogey out there. I should have played well today, as that would have made the rest of the week easier. However, it's unlikely to come down to putting, as the weather is set to become very poor and challenging for the rest of the week. It's difficult to get putts rolling when you have to hit the ball, because the greens are so slow as they are preparing for the conditions of the coming days. Many putts rolled away or went wherever they wanted."
However, Lindell also found positives in his game, even though the opening day's result was not encouraging. With better putting, the battle for good positions is still entirely in his own hands.
"There were some good spots today. I thought I hit the ball well off the tee. On the back nine, I hit some weak second shots and didn't manage to make any up & down birdies."
The real surprise at the top of the leaderboard is Ryan Brehm (-9), who has not made a single cut this season. He played his round with Lindell on the same Kingsbarns course. The other Finnish player in the competition, Tapio Pulkkanen, played like Lindell with a score of -4 on the same Kingsbarns course.
In addition to the three competition courses, this week's competition also has another exception, as in addition to the individual competition, there is also a team competition with amateur pairs. Unfortunately, the Finn did not get the help he needed from his partner Gerard Rupert.
"Every hole our team played today was my result. It's a shame that he couldn't help me with that."
Lindell will take on the legendary St. Andrews Old Course on Friday at 1:12 p.m. Finnish time.