Five-Way Tie for 2017 Trophee Hassan II Lead After Thursday's Action

Four players share the lead after the first day of the 2017 Trophee Hassan II tournament in Morocco, with none of the competitors managing a round of better than 70. 

Lucas Bjerregaard, Gary Stal, James Morrison and Gregory Havret all finished three-under, with a host of players shooting two-under at the notoriously difficult Royal Golf Dar Es Salam course.

Here's a look at the leaderboard after Thursday's action:

Pos	Player	To Par	Thursday Score
T1	Gary Stal	-3	70
T1	Gregory Havret	-3	70
T1	James Morrison	-3	70
T1	Lucas Bjerregaard	-3	70
T1	Edoardo Molinari	-3	70
T6	Clement Sordet	-2	71
T6	Max Orrin	-2	71
T6	Gregory Bourdy	-2	71
T6	Alexander Levy	-2	71
T6	Dylan Frittelli	-2	71

As noted by the European Tour's official Twitter account, the course at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam played rather difficult on Thursday:

France's Stal set the pace for the early starters with a solid round of three-under that included two bogeys and five birdies. Both bogeys came on the front nine.

He started on the 10th and showed brilliant form early on, with two birdies in his first four tries. He cooled down as the day went on, but maintained his lead over a large group of players in the early session.

The tricky course in Morocco didn't aid matters. The Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat is known for throwing up some remarkable cards, like this one from Matteo Manassero:

Pablo Larrazabal weighed in on the course:

With long fairways, lots of tight corners and plenty of tricky hazards, Thursday's action was always going to serve up some interesting highlights. James Heath provided one of the best shots of the day, despite not wearing any trousers:

It was a good day for French golfers, as Havret joined Stal with a score of three-under and Clement Sordet, Alexander Levy and Gregory Bourdy were part of the large group of players to finish two-under.

Bjerregaard took sole possession of the lead thanks to a wonderful eagle on the 12th and a subsequent birdie on the 13th hole, but a bogey on the 17th meant he had to settle for a share of the lead. Morrison also shot three-under, thanks to an excellent run on the back-nine.