Colsaerts Leads By Four at Turkish Airlines Open

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Nicolas Colsaerts

Nicolas Colsaerts fired a bogey-free 7-under 64 on Friday at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort and heads into the weekend with a four-shot lead at the Turkish Airlines Open.

The Belgian long bomber got off to a hot start on Friday with four birdies on the first six holes to turn at 4-under 30. A three-birdie 3-under 34 closing nine got Colsaerts to 14-under 128 after 36 holes.

Afterwards, Colsaerts cited the “good vibes” of his 14-birdie first 36 holes, but refused to “get ahead” of himself with a four-shot lead at the half-way point.

“I’m only four ahead. It’s not like I’m eight ahead. I have two rounds to play and so do the other guys,” said Colsaerts, a member of the 2012 ‘Miracle at Medinah’ Ryder Cup team. “If I’m capable of doing what I did the first two rounds, I think there’s a bunch of guys that are capable of doing the same.

“I just have to make sure I keep playing the way I do, not get ahead of myself and bring those good vibes that I had the first two rounds to the last two.”

Englishman Eddie Pepperell is alone in second at 10-under 132 following a second-round 5-under 66. Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (67) is solo third at 9 under.

A pair of Englishmen, Matthew Fitzpatrick (65) and Matthew Southgate (65), along with Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher (65), and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (66) round out the top 5 at 8 under.

England’s Lee Westwood (68) was at 7 under, one shot up on countryman Jordan Smith (67), Søren Kjeldsen (69) of Denmark, Belgian Thomas Pieters (67), and American Peter Uihlein (67).

Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, the defending champion, posted a second round 3-under 68 and is among a group of 10 players at 5 under. Among others in this group are Ian Poulter (71), Justin Rose (68), Tyrell Hatton (70), and round-one’s co-leader Joost Luiten (73).


TOP 10: ROUND 2

1 Nicolas Colsaerts -14
2 Eddie Pepperell -10
3 Kiradech Aphibarnrat -9
4 Matthew Fitzpatrick -8
4 Stephen Gallacher -8
4 Matthew Southgate -8
4 Shane Lowry -8
8 Lee Westwood -7
9 Thomas Pieters -6
9 Jordan Smith -6
9 Peter Uihlein -6
9 Soren Kjeldsen -6


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“I wasn’t quite as good off the tee, I thought, but still played great shots into greens and holed the putts that I thought I should have been making. So it felt a little bit more like work today but it’s pretty satisfying to go seven under again without, I thought, playing as smoothly.”
Nicolas Colsaerts, 36-hole leader, Turkish Airlines Open


LEADERBOARD: ROUND 2

PPLAYER
1Nicolas Colsaerts-14
2Eddie Pepperell-10
3Kiradech Aphibarnrat-9
T4Matthew Fitzpatrick-8
T4Stephen Gallacher-8
T4Matthew Southgate-8
T4Shane Lowry-8
8Lee Westwood-7
T9Thomas Pieters-6
T9Jordan Smith-6
T9Peter Uihlein-6
T9Soren Kjeldsen-6
T13Dylan Frittelli-5
T13Thorbjorn Olesen-5
T13Justin Rose-5
T13Tyrrell Hatton-5
T13Paul Dunne-5
T13Matthieu Pavon-5
T13Ian Poulter-5
T13Andres Romero-5
T13Padraig Harrington-5
T13Joost Luiten-5
T23Callum Shinkwin-4
T23Andy Sullivan-4
T23Fabrizio Zanotti-4
T23Julian Suri-4
T27Adrian Otaegui-3
T27Paul Waring-3
T27Richie Ramsay-3
T27Jorge Campillo-3
T27Haydn Porteous-3
T32Marcel Siem-2
T32Lucas Bjerregaard-2
T32Nacho Elvira-2
T32Ali Altuntas-2
T32Bernd Wiesberger-2
T32Marcus Fraser-2
T38Thomas Bjorn-1
T38Tommy Fleetwood-1
T38Robert Rock-1
T38David Drysdale-1
T38Chris Wood-1
T38Ryan Fox-1
T38David Lipsky-1
T38Andrew Dodt-1
T46Lee SlatteryE
T46Martin KaymerE
T46George CoetzeeE
T46Marc WarrenE
T46Alexander LevyE
T46Scott HendE
T52Andrew Johnston1
T52David Horsey1
T52Gregory Bourdy1
T52Alexander Bjork1
T52Matt Wallace1
T52Benjamin Hebert1
T52Victor Dubuisson1
T52Edoardo Molinari1
T52Hideto Tanihara1
T52Romain Wattel1
T62Brandon Stone2
T62Sam Brazel2
T62Henrik Stenson2
T62Michael Lorenzo-Vera2
T66Jeunghun Wang3
T66Austin Connelly3
T68Haotong Li4
T68Anthony Wall4
T68Renato Paratore4
T71Scott Jamieson5
T71Richard Sterne5
73Dean Burmester6
74Nino Bertasio7
T75(a) Leon Acikalin8
T75Graeme Storm8
77Pablo Larrazabal9
78(a) Taner Yamac16

Credit: European Tour Media, Getty Images


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