Asian Tour Leader Catlin and Kiwi Kobori dominate the Morocco series

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Asian Tour Order of Merit leader John Catlin of the USA today secured top spot on the leaderboard with an impressive 66 (seven under par) in the opening round of the $2 million International Series Morocco, sharing the lead with New Zealand’s rising star Kazuma Kobori.

Close behind is Filipino Miguel Tabuena with a 67 on the par-73 Red Course of the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat.

Despite playing with borrowed rackets and narrowly avoiding disqualification, Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe scored a remarkable 68 points, a result he shares with Taichi Kho of Hong Kong, Ben Campbell of New Zealand, Frenchman Sebastien Gros, Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra, Japanese Jinichiro Kozuma and Chinese Yanwei Liu.

Catlin, who like Kobori and Tabuena played a bogey-free round, comes to Rabat full of confidence after his impressive LIV Golf League debut last month. His performance, which included an eagle and five birdies, continued the high standard that brought him back-to-back victories at the International Series Macau and the Saudi Open earlier this year.

“Simply very solid”, said the American, who is also second in the International Series rankings.

“I made a lot of really good shots. Some of them actually went wrong, it could have been even better, but I’m very, very happy with my game. I’m looking forward to the next three days.”

The 33-year-old, who has won the Asian Tour six times, is having arguably his best season yet and has been invited to the LIV Golf League. He finished tied for 24th in Houston and tied for seventh in Nashville. He will compete in Valderrama next week.

He added: “It’s just hard work and you have to keep at it. I continue to learn from past mistakes to get better. I think that’s all you can ever do.”

Kobori, just 22 years old and New Zealand’s promising future star, overcame illness earlier this week to deliver an impressive performance in his debut event on the International Series and was delighted with his results on day one.

He said: “Unfortunately I was a bit ill on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I couldn’t play until yesterday. I would have liked to play a bit more, but hopefully I still have three more rounds to go, which I’m really looking forward to.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I did it because I didn’t even touch a club on Tuesday. You should have seen the shots I hit on the range this morning, but other than that, once I got going, I started hitting pretty well. I don’t know, it all just came together when I needed it to.”

He turned professional in late 2023 after a stellar amateur career that saw him win the Eisenhower Trophy individual title and the Australian Amateur. He also secured victory in the 2019 New Zealand PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australia, where he won three titles in a row earlier this year, his first wins as a professional. Tabuena finished fifth at the Kolon Korea Open two weeks ago, his best finish of the season on the Asian Tour. He rediscovered his form by returning to a set of clubs and putter he had previously used, and this week, to his relief, he was able to continue his strong performance.

“I had no idea why I was experimenting (with new rackets),” Tabuena said.

“It’s great to be hitting well again. It’s very good to have the old putter in my hand that I’ve been using for the last three years. It seems like it’s working. It’s not quite there yet. I made a few mental mistakes, but there are three days left and it looks like it’s working now.

“I took advantage of the calmer conditions in the morning, but I’m pretty tired. I’m still suffering from jet lag. In fact, I have my whole team here this week.”

One of those team members is on his bag. He explained, “It was great. We had fun the whole time. On the bag is my sister-in-law, Kayla. And it’s a little different, but it seems to be working. I’m enjoying every second of it.”

Vincent was barely late for his tee time as he had to go to Casablanca airport to collect his golf clubs which, like those of his brother Kieran, had not arrived. Unfortunately, the clubs were still not there when he returned to Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, so he had to play with a set borrowed from the club’s pro and incurred a two-stroke penalty, turning his par on the first hole into a double bogey.

He said: “I had no expectations at all today, but I think we definitely learned something that will help us get better in the future.”

Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai and Sarit Suwannarut, Australian Travis Smyth, Swede Charlie Lindh, Korean Yeongsu Kim and newly-minted Indian pro Rayhan Thomas all scored 69 points. Defending champion, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, shot a 73. This week’s event is the eighth of the season on the Asian Tour and the third of ten stops on the International Series.