Simon Griffiths of England and Steven Alker of New Zealand each shot a 4-under-par 69 to top the crowded leaderboard at the Trophy Hassan II in Rabat, Morocco, on Thursday.

The duo wound up a shot ahead of seven players after the first round of the PGA Tour Champions event at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. Five more players turned in rounds of 71 to sit two strokes back, with nine others firing rounds of 72 to finish the day at 1-under par.

In all, 23 players are crowded within three strokes.

Alker couldn’t gain any momentum in the first 11 holes, trading two birdies and two bogeys. A birdie at 12 put him at 1-under par, and he then concluded his round with three consecutive birdies to finish at 4-under.

“It’s always tough out here,” Alker said. “We’ve got two days to go. It’s going to be a crowded leaderboard. It’s that type of golf course where it’s going to be crowded, you know what I mean, unless someone takes off. It’s just hard to make birdies and you’ve just got to stay on it all day, so it will be tight.”

Griffiths started his round on the eighth hole and opened with two consecutive birdies, adding birdies at Nos. 13 and 17 before a bogey on the par 4 No. 3. He regained the shot with a birdie on the fourth hole, another par 4.

“Yeah, very happy,” Griffiths said. “Started on No. 8, hit two good shots on the front edge, managed to two-putt for birdie. Birdied the next to go 2 under, which is a nice start here, you’ve got something in the bank. You’ve got a tough golf course. Hit a few good shots, a few iffy shots, but yeah, I’ll take 69 all day long out here.”

Defending champion Ricardo Gonzalez, who set a 54-hole record (209) at the course in 2024, shot a 1-under 72 to finish in the group tied for 15th.

Ernie Els, who won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai last month, is in the group tied at 1-under. He entered the week atop the Schwab Cup standings.

Alker was the Tour Champions Player of the Year in 2024 for the second time in three years.

–Field Level Media