Mikael Lindberg produced a fast finish to card a blemish-free 66 and hold a one-shot lead after day one of the Turkish Airlines Open.
The Swede appeared unlikely to overtake early clubhouse pacesetters Alejandro Del Rey and Ewen Ferguson when he was level par for his opening eight holes, but four birdies across his closing six holes helped him hit the front at six under.
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 at the National Golf Club.
With sunny conditions, minimal breeze and preferred lies in place, it was a low scoring day in Belek, Antalya, with 62 players in the field finishing under par.
Lindberg was coming off the back of a career-best third-place finish in China last week and knows another good performance could earn him a spot at the US PGA Championship.
The Swede is eighth on the Asian Swing Rankings, with the top three after Türkiye receiving an invite to compete at Aronimink Golf Club from May 14-17.
“It was a very good day for sure,” he said. “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.
“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 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 back nine for him.
He birdied both the par-five first and fourth, before reaching four under with a good chip after an excellent tee shot on the sixth and then rounded out his day with a pair of closing gains to vault to the summit.
“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," Lindberg added.
For a spell, it appeared as if Del Rey and Ferguson, playing alongside each other in a three-ball that began at 07:15 local time could be leading after day one.
Starting off the tenth, Ferguson birdied his opening two holes, while Del Rey went one better as he reached three under in double quick time.
Despite Ferguson adding a birdie at the 14th, he soon still found himself three back of Spaniard Del Rey when he made back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th.
However, with the Scot birdieing both the last two holes of his front nine, he was just one back of his fellow DP World Tour winner after Del Rey cancelled out a dropped shot at the 17th with a gain at the 18th.
Ferguson was very consistent on his back nine, birdieing the seventh and avoiding any dropped shots, with Del Rey requiring a birdie at the ninth after earlier mixing bogeys at the second and seventh with a gain at the fourth.
“It was a quick start for both of us,” said Del Rey. “It is good to have a playing partner that is playing well.
“Our group in general actually played well. It’s nice to take advantage of a first tee time, first guys off, no wind, perfect conditions.
“The greens were rolling perfect. It’s just nice when you have such a good setup to be able to take advantage of it.”
Ferguson said: “At the start of the day there was no wind. Felt good first out, the greens were pure and I just took advantage of that which is nice.
“It’s not often you go first out so I was the first person putting on fresh cut greens which does make a difference.”
Also among those to play the back nine first was late starter Van Tonder, with the one-time DP World Tour winner making five birdies - including three in a four-hole stretch from the third.
Martin Couvra, the defending champion, was one of five players along with fellow Frenchman Frederic Lacroix, Swedish duo Jens Dantorp and Adam Blomme and Englishman Sam Bairstow at four under, two back of the early pace.
Italian Matteo Manassero holed out for a spectacular eagle on the par-four sixth and he was in a big group at three under that also included countryman and Major champion Francesco Molinari.
The Turkish Airlines Open marks the final event of the Asian Swing, before the European Swing begins next week with the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship. To buy your tickets for that event, click here.
