Lee Corfield surges 2 shots ahead in Mena Golf Tour Royal Golf D’Anfa Open
Lee Corfield stormed through the field, opening with a sizzling eight-under 64 to seize the early momentum in delightful conditions in the MENA Golf Tour’s Royal Golf D’Anfa Open here on Thursday.
Apparently seeking revenge of sorts after missing the cut last week in Rabat, the Englishman birdied the first to set the tone for a brilliant round that included 10 birdies against just two bogeys.
Scotland’s Paul Doherty fired eight birdies in a stunning 10-hole stretch to occupy solo second on six-under 66, two ahead of England’s Ross McGowan, the winner of last week’s Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Open.
On a day when 19 players broke par, Morocco’s Ahmed Marjane led the six-man chasing pack that also included talented English amateur James Allan on three-under 69 as Zane Scotland, a nine-time winner on the tour, moved into tie for 10th a further shot adrift.
It was Corfield, who dominated the proceedings with a solid tee-to-green performance. “I really played well and missed just one fairway in regulation which was the key,” said Corfield, a three-time winner on the tour.
“I created plenty of scoring opportunities out there, hitting my wedges close to the pin. Overall, a very good day at work,” said Corfied, whose opening 64 represented an improvement of a good 16 shots from last week’s first round of 80.
Scotland’s Doherty — two over after his first six holes — exploded into life on the back nine, rattling up six birdies in a row from the 11th to finish strongly as Morocco’s Marjane hit the front in the MENA Division for the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation Award.
“I was four under after 12, but made two silly bogeys coming home which kind of undermined an otherwise good round,” he said. “It’s all about finding the fairways on this course and if you can do that in regulation, the rest is pretty much easy,” he added.
Leading the amateur division on Day One was England’s Allan, who also overcame a couple of early bogeys to post a decent score.
“I struck the ball really well, probably the best for while; maybe, since the last year’s Tour Championship in Al Ain when I finished on 10-under for the event,” said the 20-year-old English prodigy.
“It wasn’t the best of starts as I three-putted the first and the third, but things thereafter fell in place as I gave myself plenty of chances, hitting 16 greens in regulation.
“This has given me a lot of confidence, going into the second round. I just have to go and try and play similar golf to the way I did in the first round and see what happens,” said Allan, who went four-under on the last 15 holes after making a bogey-birdie-bogey start.
His compatriot Scotland made a bogey-bogey start, but finished with a flourish, playing the last 10 holes in five under.
“I made a bad start, but a birdie on the ninth kicked started the round,” said Scotland, who also birdied the 10th, 12th, 16th and 18th to put himself in contention.
“The course in great condition. The greens are rolling fine and the fairways are just immaculate. With weather holding up, you couldn’t have asked for any better,” he said.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES (Par-72)
64 – Lee Corfield (England)
66 – Paul Doherty (Scotland)
68 – Ross McGowan (England)
69 – Ahmed Marjane (Morocco), James Allan (England-AM), Maurice Jeffries (US), Carlos Balmaseda (Spain), Xavier Puig (Spain), Chris McDonnell (England)
70 – Zane Scotland (England), Amine Joudar (Morocco), Glil Younes (Morocco), Stuart Archibald (England)
71 – Michael Harradine (Switzerland-AM), Karl Ableidinger (Austria), Gabriel Canizares (Spain), Dominic Foos (Germany), Gary King (England), Federico Elli (Italy)
Notables:
74 – Haydn McCullen (England), Elliott Oxlade (England0AM)
75 – Faycal Serghini (Morocco), Khaled Attieh (Saudi Arabia-AM)
76 – Luke Joy (England)
