Dougherty clear in Morocco

Nick Dougherty shot a seven-under-par 66 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco.

The 27-year-old Liverpudlian owes his position atop the leaderboard to an inward nine of 30 on Royal Dar Es Salam's Red Course which included an eagle and five birdies.

Leading the chase are Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Scot Stephen Gallacher, Italian Francesco Molinari, India's SSP Chowrasia and South Americans Ricardo Gonzalez and Fabrizio Zanotti.

Dougherty's performance comes as he seeks to rebuild his confidence having suffered a dip in form in recent months.

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 rankings and missed out on the first two world championship events of the current season.

"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.

"Thomas Bjorn gave me quite a bit of help yesterday on the range, which meant the world to me obviously, but it's a work in progress."

Satisfied

Of particular satisfaction to Dougherty was the fact his round came on the Red Course - generally accepted as being much tougher than the Blue, on which this week's tournament is also being played.

Of the six players just behind him, all but Chowrasia were on the much shorter Blue.

"Anything under par I would have been happy with, so I was delighted with that. I think seven under is a really, really good score round there," he said.

"I putted fabulous and I'm delighted with my short game in general, but it's the long game that's concerning me. I've been battling with that for a long time now."

Lawrie, meanwhile, stands in contention despite breaking his driver on the eve of the event.

"The head of the driver came loose during practice. I have a spare, but I'm just not 100 per cent confident with it," said the former Rookie of the Year, whose only European Tour win came in the 2008 Spanish Open.

"The three-wood's going well, but the Red is long and the driver will have to come out somewhere."

The 104-strong field switch courses for round two as the pro-am format continues, with the top 65 professionals then going forward to the closing 36 holes - all of which take place on the Red Course.

Nervous

Lawrie is partnering his father-in-law and added: "That's the most nervous I've been. I had to up my game to make sure I did okay and we did okay."

The 35-year-old was only two under with eight holes to play but proceeded to make eagle at the long second before scoring birdies on three of his last four holes.

Fellow Dubliner Paul McGinley, playing his first tournament since a sixth knee operation in November, managed only a three-over-par 76 on the Red.