Ireland’s Paul McGinley fired a brilliant six under par 67 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to hold a one shot lead after the first round of the Moroccan Open.
McGinley started his round with an eagle three on the opening hole after hitting a towering five wood to about 20 feet in the morning dew. From there the 34 year old rolled in another five birdies and dropped only the one shot to lead the trio of Neil Cheetham, Michael Jonzon and Craig Hainline.
“I can’t remember ever starting a round with an eagle,” said McGinley. “It was a beautiful shot and a beautiful way to start.
“Basically it was a good round of golf. I hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways. Gave myself a lot of opportunities. It’s a great score round this course.”
At 7,359 yards the tree-lined Dar Es Salam course is one of the longest on The European Tour and tested players to the full. “I can’t remember playing a course as long as this. I hit every club in the bag out there from driver down to the putter. That’s the sign of a good golf course. A good, long tough golf course and I’m very pleased to shoot six under.”
Jonzon was the first to finish on five under par 68 courtesy of a back nine of 32 in which he fired five birdies including one on the last where he holed out from 30 feet. Jonzon won the Portuguese Open in 1997 at Aroeira but has struggled over the past couple of seasons and described last year as “horrific”. But after a few friendly words of advice from Thomas Björn in Qatar a month ago, the 28 year old Swede has started to find his form with the driver.
“The driving has been the problem really,” he said. “Last year I hit it places you wouldn’t think you could go. I’ve been working hard and found something in Qatar. That was my first tournament this year. I spent some time with Thomas. We discussed a few things and I found something that I immediately felt was right. It’s been improving since then.
“For me right now it is nice to play well again without having the worry too much about the driver. It is nice to play golf again.”
Hainline is another player who struggled with his form last season and lost his card after finishing the season in 124th place in the Volvo Order of Merit. Now he is trying to make the most of his few starts on The European Tour to make a comeback.
“My first couple of years I was never close to losing my card. Finished 40th on the money list my first year. Maybe I took everything for granted and didn’t work as hard last year. I became more frustrated because I wasn’t playing well and expected to play so much better. Just put a lot of pressure on myself at the end of the year to try to keep my card and didn’t get it. I’m going to have to get it back the hard way.”
Hainline’s round of 68 was based on four outstanding shots which enabled him to pick up two eagles and two birdies. On the fourth he hit a nine iron to four feet for his first birdie of the day. Four holes later he blasted two drivers just short of the 585 yards par five and chipped in for an eagle. Turning for home Hainline picked up his second eagle on the tenth after hitting a three iron to 25 feet. Then he finished his round in style with a perfect nine iron to a few inches on the last.
“I hit four really good shots and converted on all four,” he said. “I never really made any long putts but capitalised on a couple of really long shots. Played the par fives five under and finished five under.”
Cheetham recorded his best ever finish on The European Tour a fortnight ago when he finished joint eighth in the Sao Paulo Brazil Open and has brought some of that confidence to Morocco to pick up seven birdies with two dropped shots. The 33 year old Englishman, who was on the books of Sheffiled Wednesday as a schoolboy, based his round on just 23 putts.
“I putted fantastic,” he said. “Drove the ball okay, indifferently really. Hit some lovely shots and some poor shots but my short game was great as it has been all year.
“Eighth in Brazil was my best ever finish and gave me confidence. Then I missed the cut the week after. That probably did me good as it brought me back down to earth with a jolt. But I put in a bit of hard work last week.”
Welshman David Park, runner up in this event two years ago, opened with a four under par 69 as did England’s Sam Walker but with the wind picking up in the afternoon and swirling round the cork trees, few of the later starters made an impression on the leaderboard.