Oliver Lindell spent eight seasons trying to progress from the HotelPlanner Tour to the DP World Tour. When he finally got there, it only took him one to earn his way into the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
This week he will cap-off his debut season on the DP World Tour, joining eight other graduates from last year's HotelPlanner Tour Grand Final to also make it through to the final event of the year.
Of that number, seven are making their first appearance in this tournament, and Lindell is one of them.
He has been in the professional golf ranks since 2016, and his seamless journey to get there indicated he would progress quickly through the senior game. Instead, his path to the DP World Tour took a little longer, but he was determined to make it count when he got there. And he has.
The Finnish player dominated the junior game in his home country. He was named Junior Golfer of the Year three years in a row, finished fifth in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics at Zhongshan International Golf Club in Nanjing, China, and won his first professional event as an amateur on the Nordic Golf League in 2015.
He added two more wins on the same Tour in 2016 to finish second on the Nordic Golf League Rankings, as well as topping the ECCO Tour, to earn his place on to the then named European Challenge Tour at the age of 19. His first season there was impressive too: He recorded six top tens in his rookie year and finished 33rd on the Race to Mallorca Rankings in 2017, not far from earning his DP World Tour card. He looked poised to make the jump.
Yet he then unexpectedly struggled, recording just five top tens in the next six years before enjoying a breakout year in 2024.
After a slow start, Lindell finished second at the Danish Golf Challenge, and went on to record eight consecutive top tens to end his season, which included two runner-up finishes. It saw him comfortably earn promotion to the DP World Tour in third place on the Race to Mallorca Rankings, and his subsequent season in 2025 has proven the 27-year-old is only looking forward.
At the start of his DP World Tour career he set out a clear goal of making it to the final event of the year.
This week he will achieve that, marking his 29th event on Tour this season.
"I mean, the plan for the first year was to get to the finals," he told the DP World Tour, "but it's still like you need to play pretty well.
"To win you need some luck and you need some bounces. I've played in 150 tournaments almost on Hotel Planner Tour and here now almost 30 and I haven't got any wins, but if you manage to play get here to the final without winning you basically played well enough every single week."
๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ: 28
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 11, 2025
๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐๐: 23
๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฌ: 4
๐๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ: โฌ863,597
๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐: 70.28
On his first season on Tour, Oliver Lindell is one of 18 players making their debut at the @dpwtc this week ๐#DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/qSBd0RhyVz
He began with four made cuts in Australia and South Africa to start his season, with a best of tied 16th at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, ending 2024 sitting at 21st on the Race to Dubai.
Top 15s in Qatar, Turkey and Austria proved his consistency at this level, but his first top ten of the year at the Italian Open at the end of June was a bit of a turning point in form.
Just three days after Italy, Lindell earned his place in The Open at Royal Portrush through a play-off at Final Qualifying. He finished in a tie for 28th in his first Major start, which moved him back inside the top 60 on the Race to Dubai and ultimately secured his card.
Despite also then finishing inside the top ten at the Nexo Championship, Danish Golf Championship and Amgen Irish Open before a tie for 13th at the BMW PGA Championship, it's that result at The Open in particular that he attributes as key to making it to the DP World Tour Championship.
"I mean, without qualifying for The Open and finishing top 30 there, I don't think I would have [got here].
"I played eight years on Hotel Planner Tour. [This is] the first time when I get the card, I don't want to go back.
"So I've been playing a lot and then qualified for The Open, played well there, secured the card for next year. Then it's been I've played really well in Irish Open, in Wentworth, seventh in the Irish Open, 13th in Wentworth so it's been cool."
