Mikael Lindberg fires late birdie burst to seize Turkish Airlines Open lead

The Swede looked unlikely to challenge the early clubhouse leaders, Alejandro Del Rey and Ewen Ferguson, after reaching the turn at level par. However, four birdies over his final six holes propelled him to six under and the outright lead.

South Africa’s Daniel van Tonder also enjoyed a bogey-free round, signing for a 67 to sit in a three-way tie for second at the National Golf Club.

Scoring was low across the board in Belek, Antalya, with favourable conditions - including sunshine, light winds and preferred lies - helping 62 players finish under par.

Lindberg arrived in Turkey on the back of a career-best third-place finish in China and knows another strong showing could secure him a place at the upcoming US PGA Championship.

"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.

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.