Oliver Lindell admitted he was worried he could run out of balls as he recovered from a triple bogey to post an opening 67 at the Danish Golf Championship.
The Finn has been one of the stars of the season as he has not missed a single cut and currently sits 11th on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World.
It looked like his run – which stretches back to the 2025 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – could be in danger when he put two balls in the water on the 14th, his fifth, to slip over par.
But he responded birdie-birdie-eagle and added two more gains on the way home to put himself right in contention at Great Northern.
"I had one really bad adventure on hole 14," he said. "One bad tee shot and then tried to do a big recovery and hit the second one into the water and two-putt for triple.
"I said to my caddie, 'there's a good couple of holes coming up to get the shots back' and went birdie-birdie-eagle after that so I can almost forget it.
"I was thinking 'do I have enough balls for the round?' because I hit two balls on that hole into the water.
"But then a couple of good swings on the next hole, made the birdie straightaway and that's how it is.
"I said after 12 holes to my caddie, 'let's just make two more birdies so I don't have to be scary about missing the cut this week'."
Oliver Lindell shoots a first nine 33 (-3) despite making a triple bogey 😅
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 13, 2026
The 27-year-old hasn't missed a cut on the DP World Tour since July last year.#DanishGolf pic.twitter.com/IJy80FpK8h
While Lindell has four professional victories across the Nordic Golf League and in his homeland, he is still searching for a maiden European Tour group win, having graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour without one in 2024.
But he has been putting in the hard yards since his last start at the Genesis Scottish Open and believes he knows which area of his game needs to improve to get him over the line.
"I had a nice time at home, tried to take the first week off but still went to play a couple of times," he said.
"I've been practising a lot because for me, the tournament days are just to practise to play well, not to do anything about technique or that kind of stuff.
"I've been really good with the irons and short game and putting are really good, it's just about how I get out from the tee and today I was really good so it helps a lot."
