Mikael Lindberg produced a fast finish to card a bogey-free 66 and hold a one-shot lead after day one of the Turkish Airlines Open.
Related: Bernd Wiesberger bags ninth DP World Tour title in Shanghai
The Swede appeared unlikely to threaten early clubhouse pacesetters Alejandro Del Rey and Ewen Ferguson when he began his back nine at one under, but four birdies across his closing six holes saw him move to six under par at National Golf Club.
View this post on Instagram
It wasn’t until the 18th – his ninth – that Lindberg made his first birdie of the day, but that proved to be the spark that preceded a brilliant run home for him.
The 33-year-old birdied both the par-five first and fourth, before reaching four under with a good chip after an excellent tee shot. He then rounded out his day with a pair of closing gains to vault to the summit.
Lindberg recorded a career-best third place finish at last week’s Volvo China Open to catapult into eighth position on the Asian Swing Rankings, hitting his stride ahead of this week’s fourth and final counting event on the Asian Swing.
He will now have his sights set on earning a place in the field of next month’s U.S. PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club by finishing in the top three of the Asian Swing Rankings. The winner of the Asian Swing also qualifies for all the Back 9 events and receives a US$ 200,000 prize money bonus.
View this post on Instagram
South African Daniel van Tonder also went bogey-free during the afternoon wave to card a 67 and make it a three-way tie for second on the leaderboard in Belek alongside Ferguson and Del Rey.
Defending champion Martin Couvra posted a four under par opening round of 68 to sit in fifth position alongside Countryman Frederic Lacroix, England’s Sam Bairstow and Swedish duo Adam Blomme and Jens Dantorp.
On a sunny day in Belek, Antalya, with minimal breeze and preferred lies in place, 62 players in the field finished under par.
Player Quotes:
Mikael Lindberg: It was a very good day for sure. I started off pretty slow though. I made a good few saves on the front nine and then knocked it close on 18 and from there, rolled in a few more.
View this post on Instagram
It’s pretty tricky. The greens are firming up a little bit so if you are a little bit offline it’s very difficult to get it close. I have been holing quite a lot of putts actually, struggling a bit on the greens lately but this week and last has been pretty good so hopefully it can continue.
It is very narrow but to be fair I have been driving it pretty good lately, so I have been just focusing a little bit more on the putting. It’s nice to see some results.
I am looking forward to the buffet at Regnum, there are so many options. It’s basically food from all over the world and the quality is very good so I am looking forward to that.
