Thorbjørn Olesen put on an imperious display of golf on day two of the Turkish Airlines Open, carding a course record nine under par 62 to storm into a six-shot lead at Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort.
The 26 year old finished with four birdies and an eagle in his final six holes to open a sizeable gap at the top in the opening tournament of the European Tour’s Final Series.
Olesen currently sits in 38th position in the Race to Dubai and a victory in the sun-kissed Belek region in southern Turkey could move the Dane within the top ten and into contention for the €5million bonus pool at the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
Leading the chasing pack heading into the weekend were Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who shared second place on nine under par after respective rounds of 63 and 66, while Englishman David Horsey (67), Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren (64), Haotong Li of China and Italian Matteo Manassero (both 68) were all a shot further back on eight under.
Player quotes:
Thorbjørn Olesen
“I think I found something in Portugal, I was playing really well. I didn’t score that well, but I felt like I was playing a lot better, so I was hoping for something good to come. Yesterday was a great putting display, and today I played better and still putted great, so it’s been a couple of good days.
“For the eagle, I hit a loose three-wood from the tee, really just got out of it, and then had a tricky lie and hit a great shot around a pole- a low fade around up to 15 feet, 20 feet, and holed a great putt. That will definitely keep your round going. You can easily make a five from there instead of a three, so that was definitely the shot of the day.
“I feel like I’ve been up in contention in a lot of big events so I feel pretty comfortable. There are still 36 holes to go, so that’s a lot of golf to be played but I have to keep being aggressive out there, keep going after some of the pins and try to make birdies. That’s the only way I can win.”
Adrian Otaegui
“I’m very happy with today’s round. I felt very good from the beginning to the end – I started with five consecutive birdies. I just tried to not think on anything, just tried to keep the momentum and work.
“I was just thinking about shot after shot. It’s good when golf is easy so I really enjoyed it. We had good weather and everything is good.
“One of the first goals this year was to play in the Final Series and play this wonderful event so now that I am here, let’s enjoy it.”
Thongchai Jaidee
“I played well, putting well and hitting the ball very good. It was better than yesterday, one shot better than yesterday to be exact! I don’t think I missed much today. I hit a lot of perfect shots, that’s why five-under par has made me very happy today.
“I’ve had two very solid rounds – I could compare them with the French Open. I played good in the French Open, very consistent every day, so hopefully I can continue that this week. I’m really confident and putting well. I think the greens are a very good speed and I like them like this.”
Matteo Manassero
“It was a good round today, very similar to yesterday, except yesterday I made a couple of long putts and that was it, that was the difference.
“Obviously it’s never easy the second round. After starting well at a tournament, you want to keep yourself up on top of the leaderboard and that’s what I did, so I’m happy with my round. There are two more days, still a long way to go, but if I can keep my solid long game, I’ll be happy with that.
“It would be a great way to finish the season, playing well here and getting myself into Dubai, but I’m not too concerned about that – I just want to have a good week here.”
Scores after round 2:
127 T Olesen (Den) 65 62,
133 T Jaidee (Tha) 67 66, A Otaegui (Esp) 70 63,
134 J Lagergren (Swe) 70 64, D Horsey (Eng) 67 67, L Haotong (Chn) 66 68, M Manassero (Ita) 66 68,
135 J Campillo (Esp) 66 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 67 68,
136 B Wiesberger (Aut) 66 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 67 69, D Lipsky (USA) 67 69,
137 G Coetzee (RSA) 64 73, R Rock (Eng) 69 68, J Wang (Kor) 67 70, B An (Kor) 68 69, J Morrison (Eng) 70 67, N Elvira (Esp) 70 67,
138 L Slattery (Eng) 69 69, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 69, J Walters (RSA) 68 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 70 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 67, R Bland (Eng) 70 68, G Havret (Fra) 69 69, R Gouveia (Por) 70 68,
139 J Quesne (Fra) 68 71, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 67, T Hatton (Eng) 72 67, F Aguilar (Chi) 67 72, R Ramsay (Sco) 71 68, P Lawrie (Sco) 69 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 69,
140 W Ashun (Chn) 70 70, L Westwood (Eng) 70 70, R Wattel (Fra) 69 71, A Johnston (Eng) 71 69, M Ilonen (Fin) 74 66, S Hend (Aus) 68 72, N Bertasio (Ita) 69 71,
141 R Sterne (RSA) 71 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 71, P Harrington (Irl) 72 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72, A Cañizares (Esp) 70 71, C Paisley (Eng) 71 70, V Dubuisson (Fra) 72 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 67 74, P Edberg (Swe) 72 69, B Stone (RSA) 73 68, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 71,
142 G Bourdy (Fra) 72 70, T Fleetwood (Eng) 71 71, R Paratore (Ita) 71 71, B Hebert (Fra) 70 72, J Carlsson (Swe) 68 74, L Jensen (Den) 71 71,
143 D Fichardt (RSA) 70 73, D Brooks (Eng) 71 72, O Fisher (Eng) 73 70, S Chawrasia (Ind) 74 69, D Willett (Eng) 69 74, M Warren (Sco) 68 75, C Shinkwin (Eng) 71 72, A Lahiri (Ind) 72 71,
144 M Southgate (Eng) 72 72, M Carlsson (Swe) 70 74, F Zanotti (Par) 70 74,
145 A Altuntas (am) (Tur) 74 71,
146 M Kieffer (Ger) 73 73, N Holman (Aus) 75 71, T Aiken (RSA) 71 75, A Levy (Fra) 72 74,
148 H Porteous (RSA) 72 76, J Van Zyl (RSA) 76 72,
153 L Acikalin (am) (Tur) 75 78,
156 M Guner (am) (Tur) 81 75,
157 M Siem (Ger) 80 77,
