Frenchman Alexander Levy moved to the top of the leaderboard midway through the second day of the Kazakhstan Open despite carding a double-bogey, as nine birdies earned him a five under par round of 67 to leave him on 11 under par.
With overnight leader Peter Uihlein out on the course, nobody threatened to emulate the American’s opening round of 63 but once again there were plenty of low scores and Levy’s took him to the front at Zhailjau Golf Resort in Almaty.
It was a rollercoaster round for the 22 year old as he opened with a birdie and followed that with another at the third. Back to back bogeys at the fourth and fifth, however, took him back to level par before a superb run of three birdies in four holes took him through the turn in three under par.
A double-bogey at the par four 11th hole looked to have put a dampener on his day, but once again he bounced superbly by bettering his front nine feat as he birdied four of the final five holes with a par sandwiched in between at the 17th.
“I played really well today,” said Levy. “I made just one big mistake with the double-bogey but I had a strong finish so I'm very happy. I kept focussed all day and after that mistake I still felt like I could continue to play well.
“I continued to play well despite the mistake and I just told myself to just play my golf and I did that.
“I like this course,” he continued. “You need to hit long and the par fives are easier if you can do that but I played well and didn’t make many mistakes.”
HP Bacher of Austria was a shot further back as he negotiated the second round without a single bogey, with five birdies also earning him a 67 to move to ten under par a shot behind Levy.
The Challenge Tour Rankings leader Gary Lockerbie was a shot further back on nine under par thanks to a four under par round of 68.
