Gregorio De Leo will take a one-shot lead into the weekend of the Turkish Airlines Open as he targets a maiden DP World Tour title in Türkiye.
Related: Mikael Lindberg holds narrow lead in Turkey
The Italian, playing in the morning wave on Friday, carded five birdies and just one bogey in his second round 68 to set the clubhouse target at seven under as low scoring proved a challenge at National Golf Club.
The 26-year-old was briefly joined at that mark by afternoon starters Alejandro Del Rey and Jens Dantorp, but they both fell back into a tie for second alongside Kazuma Kobori and Sam Bairstow on six under.
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De Leo secured his first 36-hole lead on the DP World Tour and is now chasing a maiden win after regaining his playing privileges at Qualifying School after a rookie campaign which featured two top-five finishes.
A former Alps Tour Order of Merit winner in 2022, he was grateful to his caddie Adam Drummond after a late arrival meant he went without a pre-tournament practice round.
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First-round leader Mikael Lindberg sits at five under in solo sixth after a second round 73, while defending champion Martin Couvra was among those to make the cut on the number at one over.
Asian Swing leader Jordan Gumberg also progressed through to the weekend after making a closing birdie. The Turkish Airlines Open is the fourth of four counting events on the Asian Swing and the top three on the Rankings at the end of the week will earn a place at next month’s U.S. PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
Player Quotes
Gregorio De Leo: It felt very good today, I played very well. I was solid off the tee, and my putter really helped me today. I holed a lot of putts out there. I’m very happy with it. It’s not an easy course, so you’re going to expect some bogeys on the card. I’m not bothered about my bogey on 13, I’m fine with it.
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It’s tricky because I got here on Wednesday afternoon, so I didn’t even have a practice round. I didn’t know how the course was playing so I’m really grateful for my caddy Adam. He really helped me out yesterday and today. We started working together in Australia five months ago and we’re a good team.
Kazuma Kobori: We’ve got pretty nice conditions, the wind is picking up now but for the most part we played in pretty calm conditions so pretty happy with the way things are going.
I think two and nine are tough for the most part and then the rest of the course you have to play really disciplined because they have really tucked the pins. Back nine was definitely the easier of the two but you still have to be on your game.
I’m just trying to keep doing what I am doing. It’s a bit of belief, evidence that I can compete out here from last year so to be honest I’m just trying not to force the issue as much and just keep playing my game over the course of 72 holes and see where that takes me.
