Marc Warren surged to the top of the leaderboard on the opening morning of the Saint-Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC.
Starting from the tenth, Warren, whose last victory came at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2007, birdied his first three holes before recording pars at the fourth, fifth and sixth.
That put him one clear of a cluster of players on two under, including fellow Scots Callum MacAulay and Craig Lee.
Also on two under were English duo Daniel Denison and Sam Little, along with Italy’s Andrea Perrino.
José-Filipe Lima matched Warren by birdieing ten, 11 and 12, but he then slipped down the leaderboard courtesy of a double bogey seven at the par five 14th.
Defending champion Martin Wiegele was three over par after seven holes of his first round, having followed an opening birdie with dropped shots at 12 and 13, and a double bogey at 16.
