Open De France 2017: Paul Waring Opens 2-Stroke Lead After Thursday

Paul Waring ended Thursday's opening round of the 2017 Open de France seven-under and two shots clear at the head of the leaderboard, although Thomas Pieters stands among a pack of stars tight on the Englishman's heels. 

The Belgian finished the first day of the competition as one of three players tied at five-under par alongside Nathan Kimsey and Alexander Bjork despite Pieters ending his day with a bogey on the ninth, having started his round on the 10th.

World No. 21 Tommy Fleetwood is another of England's stars hoping Thursday's performance poses a sign of what's to come at Le Golf National in Paris as he shot an impressive 67 to end four-under and three shots off the lead.

The same couldn't be said for English pair Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick, however—ranked 22nd and 36th in the world, respectively—who shot three-over and five-under to put their chances of making Friday's cut in peril.

Read on as we recap the first day's action from the 2017 Open de France and discuss which contenders look most likely to launch a bid for this year's title before Sunday's curtain call.

Here's how the top end of the leaderboard looked after the first round, per the official European Tour Twitter account:

Visit the official European Tour website for a breakdown of the leaderboard in full.

Round One Recap 

The underdogs went about making early surges up the leaderboard on Thursday as Waring and Kimsey accounted for two of the top-four places, although the former drew particular credit for his dazzling 64.

Discounting the fact Waring sits 279th in the world rankings, one would have thought he held top-10 status after failing to register a bogey throughout the round, as well as splitting his seven bogies evenly across the Parisian course.

Long yardage proved no hassle for the Birkenhead native as he birdied all three par-fives on the third, ninth and 14th, staging a late rise up the rankings with three consecutive birdies between the 13th and 15th to lead.

Some of the best shots of the day belonged to Pieters, however, and the European Tour provided a montage of his highlights, which included a nonchalant, 348-yard drive along a bunker-ridden fairway on the 18th (his ninth hole):

Bjork's opening run to joint-second alongside Pieters was impressive considering he only won his first European Tour card in time for this season, showing little in terms of nerve as he rampaged up the leaderboard.

He too began on the ninth and managed to record just one birdie across his first nine holes, but patience paid off as he saved strokes on four of his last eight holes, albeit conceding it's different to be featuring among golf's elite in the aftermath:

Amid the seriousness of the competition, those fans in attendance also provided the players with some comic relief, via the European Tour:

Jon Rahm's European debut was another storyline worthy of attention on Thursday, and as far as maiden performances on the continent go, the American's 70 was far from disappointing.

Fans will have been especially impressed with how Rahm ended his day, sinking a putt from 40 yards out on the 18th to clinch what could very well be a crucial par just three holes after double-bogeying the 13th.

The world No. 11 may sit six shots off the lead as things stand but is in good shape to make the cut on Friday and perhaps even launch his own bid on silverware as long as he can conjure up his best in the coming days.