Schwab claims outright lead in Turkey with Willett in tight chasing pack

Matthias Schwab moved into an outright lead at the Turkish Airlines Open, with Danny Willett part of a closely bunched chasing pack after a low scoring round two.

Austrian Schwab shared the lead with Tom Lewis after round one and is now out ahead on his own after a five-under round of 67 moved him to 12 under for the tournament.

He has nine top-10 finishes this season but is still seeking his first win on the European Tour.

Friday's action also saw Pablo Larrazabal produce a hole-in-one at the fifth.

One shot, 219 yards, four iron @plarrazabal with the first hole-in-one of the 2019 #TurkishAirlinesOpen.#RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/4iFDuWIL6V

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 8, 2019

Schwab, 24, eagled the first hole to set himself up for a strong day in Antalya and was smooth from there, dropping just one shot on the fifth and finishing nicely with a birdie on the last.

"I think I scored well," said Schwab. "I wasn't really hitting them great at all, especially early on, but I kept it together.

"I'll have to play aggressive golf and keep the foot on the gas pedal, pars will definitely not be enough this weekend."

Lewis, meanwhile, dropped down the leaderboard after a round of 70 left him three shots off the pace.

Four players – Willett, Ross Fisher, Thomas Detry and Alex Noren - sit one shot behind Schwab in a tie for second.

Willett scored 66 having birdied four of the first seven holes, while fellow Englishman Fisher had nine birdies in an impressive eight-under round of 64.

9 birdies. 9 pars. What a round from @robert1lefty#TurkishAirlinesOpen #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/2xetCqPduD

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 8, 2019

But it was Scotsman Robert MacIntyre who produced the best round of the tournament so far, not dropping a shot in a superb 63 that saw him hit the turn in 29.

MacIntyre is two shots behind Schwab along with Justin Harding, Jason Scrivener, David Lipsky and Justin Rose.

Rose therefore remains in contention to win this event, part of the Rolex Series, for a third straight year.