Two players needing to win the Trophee Hassan II to claim a place in the Masters Tournament made the ideal start at Golf du Palais Royal.
Germany's Marcel Siem and South African George Coetzee had the daunting task of knowing only a victory in Morocco would be enough to book a trip to Augusta National next month for the first Major Championship of the year.
But Coetzee - who won the Tshwane Open on his home course in Pretoria a fortnight ago - carded a five under par 67 to set the clubhouse target.
France’s Adrien Saddier led the way on six under with three holes left to play, but Siem was also in contention after a four under par 68 left him tied for third with Anthony Wall, Søren Kjeldsen and David Drysdale.
Coetzee birdied his first three holes and also picked up a shot on the 16th, while Siem also opening with a birdie on the par five tenth and recovering from a bogey on the 12th with a birdie on the 14th and eagle on the 15th.
After reaching the turn in 32, Coetzee picked up another birdie on the par five first but could not get clear of the chasing pack, France's Gary Stal carding his seventh birdie of the day on the third to also reach five under.
Coetzee briefly claimed the outright lead with a birdie on the seventh, only to run up a double bogey on the next after his tee shot rolled back off the green and his first chip caught the same slope and came back to his feet.
However, the World Number 69 made amends with a birdie from 20 feet on the ninth to card an opening 67 and set the clubhouse target on five under, one ahead of Siem - who also birdied the ninth - and England's Wall.
“There was no plan today,” said Coetzee. “I played yesterday and I think I shot 102. I was quite happy when there was no wind this morning - it worked out pretty well today.
“The tee shot on the eighth was pretty good. Then if you don’t get it up, it is coming back at you.
“Augusta is on my mind, obviously. I’m here to try to qualify, but I’m just trying to play golf and hopefully on Sunday I will be in contention.
“I’m happy with my start. It looks better than it felt, but I’m happy to post a good number. I made a couple of putts on the front nine, but I hit two provisionals. So it was good to make the putts and get the birdies. There is still a lot of work to be done.
“It is nice to lead but if they could give me the (ranking) points now I would take them. It doesn’t change the plan at all though. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully still lead on Sunday. If it all doesn’t work out then I’ve got a nice five-week holiday. I’m just playing and enjoying my golf. I’m in a good space mentally.”
Siem led from start to finish here in 2013 and looked to have done enough to climb into the Official World Golf Ranking's top 50 and secure a first appearance in the Masters Tournament.
However, after the results of the Houston Open were taken into consideration a few hours later, the 34 year old discovered he was ranked 51st and had missed out by just 0.03 points.
“It’s only the first round but I’m really excited about playing the Masters,” said Siem after his round. “I’ve not played that before. I won here two years ago and it still wasn’t enough, which was horrible.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and work on the range. Let’s try hard and to focus and not make any stupid mistakes. I’ve got the experience and I know the golf course; I can make enough birdies so I just need to avoid the mistakes.”
Siem and Coetzee were not the only members of the field with Georgia on their minds, with Alexander Levy, Andy Sullivan, Tommy Fleetwood and Ross Fisher all having chances to move into the top 50 before Monday's deadline.
World Number 54 Levy needs to finish in a two-way tie for second or better, while Sullivan - who has won twice in South Africa this season - has to finish alone in second or win to move up from 61st. Sullivan was second last year after a superb closing 63.
Fleetwood and Fisher both need to win - and Fisher needs other results to go his way - but the Englishman got off to a terrible start with two double bogeys in his first three holes before eventually settling for a 77.
