Erik van Rooyen opened up a one-shot lead as the second round of the Trophée Hassan II got under way at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam on Friday morning.
The South African has two top tens this season since graduating from the Challenge Tour and started the day a single shot behind overnight leaders Bradley Dredge and Alvaro Quiros.
Two birdies in his first 13 holes saw the 28 year old get to six under and leapfrog the multiple European Tour winners on a morning of tough scoring in Rabat.
Afternoon starters Oliver Fisher and Joakim Lagergren were at four under, a shot clear of Lorenzo Gagli, Austin Connelly and Ashun Wu.
Van Rooyen made his gains on the eighth and 12th holes, while Quiros and Dredge were both level par for the day so far.
Welshman Dredge bogeyed the third and birdied the eighth in his first ten holes, while the Spaniard had three runs of birdie-bogey in his first six.
Italian Gagli started with a birdie but bogeyed the third and fourth to slip over par for the day after six holes, with Connelly and Wu yet to start their second rounds.
French duo Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Romain Langasque were one under for the day and two under for the week after 13 and nine holes respectively.
Ireland's Paul Dunne notched the 11th hole-in-one of the season on the 17th from 204 yards with a seven iron but last season's runner-up was battling to make the cut.
