Turkish Airlines Open 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

South Africa's George Coetzee carved out a one-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard with a seven-under par opening round at the 2016 Turkish Airlines Open on Thursday.

Three-time European Tour winner Thorbjorn Olesen is alone in second on six under after carding a 65, while Matteo Manassero, Jorge Campillo, Li Haotong and pre-tournament favourite Bernd Wiesberger are tied in third on five under.

A strong group of eight sit on four under following the opening day's action having posted scores of 67 at the Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort in Antalya, Turkey.

Here is what the leaderboard looks like after Thursday's play:

#	Nat	Player	Score	R1
1	RSA	George Coetzee	-7	64
2	DNK	Thorbjorn Olesen	-6	65
T3	ESP	Jorge Campillo	-5	66
T3	CHN	Hao-Tong Li	-5	66
T3	ITA	Matteo Manassero	-5	66
T3	AUT	Bernd Wiesberger	-5	66
T7	CHL	Felipe Aguilar	-4	67
T7	DNK	Lucas Bjerregaard	-4	67
T7	SCO	David Drysdale	-4	67
T7	ENG	David Horsey	-4	67

For the full leaderboard, visit the European Tour website.

Thursday Recap

Coetzee's was an almost blemish-free round until he shot a bogey-five on the par-four 17th.

It was a blow for the South African but took little away from a brilliant round which included four birdies on the front nine and four on the back.

He opened up with a birdie-three on the first and another on the third, while further shots gained on seven and nine saw him go out in 30.

His form continued as he birdied 10, 13, 15 and 16, and despite the dropped shot at 17, he holds a deserving lead going into Thursday's action—a Twitter post ahead of the start of the tournament had hinted at a good week of action:

Olesen's was a similarly impressive round, including birdies at three, four, 11, 12, 15 and 18.

Meanwhile, Wiesberger benefited from a brilliant last four holes as he picked up shots on 15, 16 and 18, and his approach play looked in particularly good shape, per the European Tour:

Li's round was bogey-less and included birdies at three, 10, 12, 13, 15, while Manassero's only dropped shot of the day came on the par-four 13th. 

Campillo made it to five under in slightly different fashion, with his ace on the par-three 14th a highlight of the day's play in Turkey, per the European Tour:

The group tied in seventh on four under includes the likes of David Horsey, Thongchai Jaidee, David Drysdale and Pablo Larrazabal, all of whom could make a bid for the lead ahead of the weekend's action.

Masters champion Danny Willett endured a frustrating day in the main but birdied the last to finish on two under par and just about in touch with the top of the leaderboard.

Lee Westwood was similarly inconsistent as he carded a one-under 70, and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington finished one over par—a triple-bogey six on the sixth the major blot on his round.