Nick Dougherty shot straight to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Trophée Hassan II today.
The Englishman stole in front of the pack by one stroke after a brilliant round that saw him card seven birdies and an eagle on the more difficult red course of the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
Dougherty leads the pack despite early errors on the front nine, when the 27-year-old from Bootle hit a couple of bogeys in three holes, on the 5th and 7th. But then Dougherty took the course by the scruff of the neck, making an eagle on the 10th and producing five birdies on the last seven holes to finish a shot ahead of his nearest competitors.
Italy's Francesco Molinari, the highest ranked player at the tournament, was tied for second place. The 27-year-old came home six-under, sharing the lead with Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez, Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti and India's Shiv Chowrasia. Molinari and Zanotti each carded six birdies on a flawless opener, though they couldn't quite match Lawrie, who eagled the 2nd - only to bogey the 8th and 17th.
Gonzalez hit seven birdies and a bogey for his share of second place, while Chowrasia hit eight birdies to stake his claim, despite a couple of bogeys - one of them coming on the 1st.
The first two days of the Moroccan tournament are played across two different courses, the red and the blue - and so far, it seems the blue course has provided much the easier ride. Of all the players currently occupying the top 10 placings on the leaderboard, only Dougherty and Chowrasia were playing the red course.
It's not a stellar turnout at this week's competition by any means, with Molinari the only player troubling the top 50 of the world rankings, but nonetheless, the tournament has European Tour status for the first time, and there is some local interest for UK golf fans. Besides Dougherty, Scotland's Stephen Gallacher and England's Sam Little were the highest placed Britons, coming in five-under to tie for seventh place. England's David Horsey was joint 13th, after finishing four-under.
Of the more high profile players, Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke came home three-under to tie for a position of 20th place, birdying the 18th hole. Welshman Stephen Dodd was on the same score, as were England's Anthony Wall, Richard Bland and David Lynn, and Spain's Pablo Martin.
But the day belonged to Dougherty. The Englishman's last win came at the BMW International Open last Summer, but an excellent start here has put the Liverpudlian right in the mix at Morocco. Let's hope the lad from John Lennon country doesn't turn out to be a Nowhere Man by Sunday.
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