Four players share the lead on five under par after the first round of the Moroccan Open at Golf Royal D’Agadir.
Welshman David Park, the current leader of the Challenge Tour Rankings, and Sweden’s Eric Carlberg, both of whom are playing in their first European Tour event, share the lead with Frenchman Jean-Pierre Cixous and Spain’s Miguel Angel Martin.
Park, a member of the 1997 Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, has won once on the Challenge Tour already this season and currently has total 1999 winnings of 26,394 euro. This week he is playing for a first prize of 81,660.
“I’ve been playing steady, not making as many mistakes as last year,” said the 23 year old who is coached by former European Tour player David Llewellyn. “I’ve come here because there is no Challenge Tour event this week. But this is one of the toughest courses I have played all year.”
Carlberg, known as “Probably” on the Challenge Tour because of the similarity of his name to that of a well known brand of lager whose marketing slogan is "Probably the best lager in the world", definitely shot his best round on the main Tour to see his name at the top of the leaderboard for the first time. His opening score of 67 in his first round on the regular Tour as a professional included only 24 putts as he fired seven birdies, all from within a yard.
The 24-year-old joined the paid ranks in 1994 after playing in the Eisenhower Trophy team alongside Mikael Lundberg, Frederik Jacobsen and Kalle Brink, but despite winning once on the Challenge Tour, has yet to make the step up to the big league.
Also seeing his name on the leaderboard for the first time on five under par is Frenchman Jean-Pierre Cixous. The 30-year-old has made only one cut in the 14 starts this year since graduating from the Qualifying School last November but, like Carlberg, was devastating with the putter. He had only 25 putts as he picked up five birdies in a flawless round.
“My putting today was unbelievable,” he said. “This is definitely my best round of the year and best on the European Tour.”
Among the group on four under par is England’s Simon Hurley. The man from Bristol has had a torrid time over the past three years since injuring his right wrist in his first European Tour event – the Catalan Open – in 1996. Over that period he has had three operations and only played about three months of golf.
“It’s not been a lot of fun sitting at home these last three years,” he said. “I think if I had the opportunity to earn some money doing something else I would have given up. But there is nothing else I have ever wanted to do. I have always wanted to play golf.”
