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Dougherty takes early lead in Morocco

Thu 18th, March 2010

Rabat, Morocco (Sports Network) - England's Nick Dougherty shot a seven-under 66 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the European Tour's Hassan II Golf Trophy.

Dougherty, who played the par-73 Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, made five birdies and an eagle on the back nine to climb atop the leaderboard.

Five more players posted a 66, but four of them played the par-72 Blue course. Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Italy's Francesco Molinari, Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez, and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti all trailed Dougherty by a shot at six-under par.

S.S.P. Chowrasia had a six-under 67 on the Red course.

Dougherty, 27, captured his third tour win last season, but has struggled to find his game recently. He has two missed cuts in five starts this season and has finished inside the top 30 only once.

Some pointers from Denmark's Thomas Bjorn on the range Wednesday helped Dougherty, who said his game is still a "work in progress."

"I played some really good stuff today and my short game was great in general," said Dougherty. "So I'm very pleased with the score, but there's still a bit of work to do on my game."

Dougherty was nowhere on the front nine. Two birdies and two bogeys put him at just even-par around the turn. It was "a little bit of a battle" early on, as Dougherty put it.

An eagle at the par-five 10th got the Englishman going in the right direction, and he went on to collect five birdies the rest of the way. It was good enough for the lead, but Dougherty said he would have accepted anything under par Thursday.

Especially considering he was playing the tougher Red course.

"It's a challenging golf course and if you hit bad shots you tend to get punished, so I was delighted and seven-under is a really good score," he said.

Friday's second round will also be played on both the Red and Blue courses, while the final two rounds will be played on the Red course

NOTES: The event is a pro-am format with professionals and amateurs paired together...Although the tournament has been around for more than 40 years, this is the first time is has been part of the European Tour schedule...The helpful Bjorn had a 72 on the Red course.