Rabat, March 19 (IANS) Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia was on fire with five birdies on last seven holes to be placed second at the end of the first round of the first round of the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco.
Fresh from a victory on Indian soil, Chowarsia opened with a confident six-under 67 on the tough par 73 Red Course on Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Thursday.
He was tied for second along with five others, and they were all one shot behind Nick Dougherty who opened with a seven under par 66.
Shiv Kapur, looking to build on his fine start in the season, also shot a steady 67, but on the Blue Course, which is par 72. Overall he was tied eighth.
The players will switch courses for the second round, at the end of which there will be the cut. The tournament with 104 professionals is being played on the pro-am format.
The 27-year-old Dougherty, home in 30 with an eagle and five birdies, leads Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Scot Stephen Gallacher, Italian Francesco Molinari, Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez, Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti and Chowrasia.
Chowrasia, winner of the Indian Masters on European Tour in 2008, opened with a bogey and then steadied himself with two pars before finding his first birdie on the fourth. Then came back-to-back birdies on seventh and eighth to turn in three-under. On the back nine, bogeyed the 11th, but birdied five of the next seven holes to card a 67.
"I hit the ball well and putted well too. So the combination worked very well," said Chowrasia, who last week won on the Indian domestic tour to end a 14-month title drought.
Kapur, runner-up at the South African Open in December, had three birdies on either side of the course, and dropped just one birdie on eighth.
What Dougherty took most satisfaction from was the fact that his round came on the tougher Red course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. Of the six players just behind him, all but Chowrasia were on the much shorter Blue.
From a high of 46th in the world just over two years ago, the three-time European Tour winner has dropped to 120th on the Official World Golf Ranking.
"I've been struggling so much I'm just trying to build some confidence and hit as many good shots as I can," he said.
Molinari is the highest-ranked player in the field but the Italian Omega Mission Hills World Cup winner admits he is somewhat jaded after a busy schedule.
"I flew straight here from Miami and only arrived on Tuesday night so I'm still feeling a little tired," he said.
Breaking his driver on the eve of the event did not hold Lawrie back.
"The head of the driver came loose during practice. I have a spare, but I'm just not 100 percent confident with it," said the former Rookie of the Year, whose only European Tour win came in the 2008 Open de España.
The 104-strong field switch courses for the second round as the pro-am format continues before the top 65 professionals go through to the closing 36 holes on the Red.
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