Alexander Levy was proud of himself after producing back-to-back 68s on his return from a long-term injury to sit in a strong position at the halfway stage of the 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Frenchman is this week playing on the DP World Tour for the first time since the Ras al Khaimah Classic in February last year, having been sidelined by a back injury.
But he heads into the weekend on eight under par and very much in contention after making a total of nine birdies and one bogey over his first 36 holes at Yas Links Abu Dhabi.
The 32-year-old followed up Thursday's flawless 68 with a patient performance on Friday morning, as he went ten holes without a birdie before notching five on the back nine.
Levy said: "It's a really good feeling. I'm so proud of myself because these two days, I didn't have my best game, but my mind, I'm here to enjoy and just to have the pleasure to play.
"For example, today, I played no good on the first nine holes and I kept patient and played really good on the back nine and shot five under on the back nine. Yeah, I'm really pleased with what I did.
"It's funny to be in this position. If you'd asked me on the first tee yesterday, for me, it was not possible to be in this situation but yeah, it's golf. You know how crazy this game is, and I'm just here to enjoy."
After 11 months out, @alexlevygolf is back 💪 #ADGolfChamps | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/yRlot8Jw9S
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 19, 2023
The five-time DP World Tour winner is still feeling some pain but after months of treatment and rehabilitation, has made huge strides from where he was when he last teed it up 11 months ago.
"I had a lot of treatment, like four months of treatment, and after I did a lot of rehab," he added. "I started to play golf in October.
"So yeah, like six, seven months of really hard rehab and now I feel great and still have a little pain in the back, not bad, but yeah, I'm just here to enjoy."
