Gregorio De Leo edges ahead as packed field gives chase at Turkish Airlines Open

For the second consecutive day, competitors enjoyed near-perfect conditions, with sunshine and barely a breath of wind. Yet despite the favourable weather at the National Golf Club, low scoring once again proved difficult to come by.

Italian De Leo, playing in the morning wave on Friday, was bogey-free on his back nine as he set the clubhouse target at seven under with a 68 in Belek, Antalya.

He was briefly joined at that mark by afternoon starters Alejandro Del Rey and Jens Dantorp, but they both fell back into a four-strong group of players one shot back that also included Sam Bairstow and Kazuma Kobori.

First-round leader Mikael Lindberg was then at five under in solo sixth after a second-round 73.

Defending champion Martin Couvra was among those to make the cut on the number at one over, with Asian Swing leader Jordan Gumberg also progressing through to the weekend after making a closing birdie.

De Leo is chasing his maiden DP World Tour win after regaining his playing privileges at Qualifying School for the second time after a rookie campaign that featured two top-five finishes.

A former Alps Tour Order of Merit winner in 2022, the 26-year-old was indebted to his caddie Adam Drummond after a late arrival in Türkiye.

"I got here on Wednesday afternoon, so I didn't even have a practice round," he said.

"I didn't know how the course was playing so I am really [thankful] of my caddie Adam. He really helped me out yesterday and today. It worked out."

De Leo started his round with a birdie at the tenth, before adding further gains at the par-five 12th and 14th either side of his solitary bogey of the day at the 13th.

He added further birdies at the fourth and seventh and was thrilled with his performance on the greens in particular.

"It definitely felt very good," he said. "I played very well.  I was solid off the tee, and my putting really helped me today.

"I think I holed a lot of feet of putts so I am very happy."