Publications
Partners
Rabat - Ireland's Peter Lawrie moved three strokes clear of the field after Thursday's opening round of the Hassan II Trophy event in Agadir after carding an eight-under-par 64 at the Golf Du Palais Royal.
Lawrie, who came up with two eagles and five birdies on the par-72 Golf du Palais Royal course, was clear of defending champion Rhys Davies of Wales, John Bickerton of England and also India's Shiv Kapur, tied for second place after going round in 67.
Bickerton meanwhile produced a five-under 66 at the Golf de l'Ocean course with the field split across the two courses for the opening two rounds, a stroke better than David Horsey and South African George Coetzee as well as Oscar Floren and Lloyd Saltman.
Lawrie, seeking to add to a European Tour win came in Spain three years ago, was delighted with his stylish start.
"I got off to a great start with an eagle at the 10th hole," he said. "After that I played lovely, gave myself lots of chances and made one stupid bogey.
"I think we got very lucky with the draw to be honest. The wind calmed down on the back nine, and the front nine - the windier nine - was when the wind was dying down a bit."
Bickerton produced six birdies as he managed to stay in contention despite high temperatures and tricky winds.
"It was a very tough day in that respect," said the Englishman, "especially when you look at the length of the rounds we were playing."
Davies, whose season has yet to catch fire - he has not managed a top ten finish as yet - was satisfied with his opening round form.
"I hit the ball a lot better than I have been lately and I was able to put the ball in the right position on the greens," he said.
Leading scores after Thursday's opening round of the Hassan II Trophy event in Agadir spread across the par-72 Golf du Palais Royal and par-71 Golf de l'Ocean courses (Britain and Ireland unless stated):
Golf du Palais Royal
64 - Peter Lawrie
67 - Shiv Kapur (IND), Rhys Davies
68 - Mark Tullo (CHI), Joost Luiten (NED), Jaco van Zyl (RSA)
69 - Michael Campbell (NZL), Oskar Henningsson (SWE)
70 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Chris Wood, Richie Ramsay, Robert Dinwiddie, Kenneth Ferrie, Florian Fritsch (GER), Robert Rock, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Michael Jonzon (SWE), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP)
71 - Richard Bland, Martin Wiegele (AUT), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Daniel Gaunt (AUS), Steven O'Hara, Julio Zapata (ARG), Graeme Storm
72 - Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Maarten Lafeber (NED), Danny Willett, Stuart Manley, Tano Goya (ARG), Barry Lane
73 - Christian Cevaer (FRA), Carlos Del Moral (ESP), Jeppe Huldahl (DEN), Christopher Ryan Baker (USA), Matthew Zions (AUS), Richard McEvoy, Marcel Siem (GER), Anthony Kang (USA), Richard Finch, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA)
74 - Gary Boyd, Christian Nilsson (SWE), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Rafael Echenique (ARG), Mark Brown (NZL)
75 - Joakim Haeggman (SWE), David Lynn, Thomas Levet (FRA), Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE), Simon Khan, Ross Bain
76 - Paul Waring, David Howell, Drew Weaver (USA), Scott Jamieson, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP)
Golf de l'Ocean
66 - John Bickerton
67 - David Horsey, George Coetzee (RSA), Oscar Floren (SWE)
68 - Joel Sjoholm (SWE), Peter Hedblom (SWE), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA)
69 - Peter Whiteford, Liam Bond, Darren Clarke, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), James Morrison, David Dixon, Tim Sluiter (NED), Keith Horne (RSA), Gregory Bourdy (FRA)
70 - Robert Jan Derksen (NED), Damien McGrane, Alvaro Velasco (ESP), Shaun Norris (RSA), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Simon Wakefield, Jason Knutzon (USA), Stephen Dodd, Pablo Martin (ESP)
71 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Matthew Nixon, George Murray, Oliver Wilson, Robert Coles, Simon Dyson, Romain Wattel (FRA), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (JPN), Paul McGinley, Michael Hoey
72 - Hennie Otto (RSA), John Parry, Niclas Fasth (SWE), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Ignacio Garrido (ESP)
73 - Lee Slattery, Steve Webster, Thomas Norret (DEN), Andreas Harto (DEN), Mark Foster
74 - Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Phillip Price, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Bradley Dredge
75 - Faycal Serghini (MAR), Santiago Luna (ESP), Jean-Francois Lucquin (FRA)
76 - Azuma Yano (JPN), Nick Dougherty
