John Catlin, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader from the United States, claimed the top spot on the leaderboard at the International Series Morocco with an impressive seven-under-par 66 in the opening round. He shares the lead with New Zealand’s rising star Kazuma Kobori.
Catlin, who played a bogey-free round, arrives in Rabat with high confidence after an impressive debut on the LIV Golf League last month. His performance, featuring an eagle and five birdies, continues the high-level play that earned him back-to-back wins at the International Series Macau and the Saudi Open earlier this year.
“Just very solid,” said the American, who is also second on The International Series Rankings. “Hit a lot of really good shots. Actually left a few out there, it could have been even better, but I am very, very pleased with how I played. I am looking forward to the next three days.”
The 33-year-old, a six-time winner on the Asian Tour, is having arguably his best season yet, earning invitations to the LIV Golf League. He finished joint 24th in Houston and tied for seventh in Nashville, and he is set to compete at Valderrama next week.
“It’s just hard work and sticking to the process,” he added. “I am continuing to learn from the failures from the past in order 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 in the week to deliver an impressive performance in his debut event on The International Series. He was thrilled with his day one results.
“Unfortunately I got a bit ill on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I only got to play yesterday,” he said. “I would’ve liked to have played it a bit more but hopefully I’ve still got three more rounds to play which I am really looking forward to.
“Honestly, I don’t know how I managed it because I didn’t even touch a club Tuesday. You should have seen the shots I was hitting on the range this morning but that being said, and once I got underway, I started to hit it quite nicely. I don’t know, it all just came together when I needed it to.”
He turned professional at the end of 2023 after an outstanding amateur career, during which he won the individual title at the Eisenhower Trophy and the Australian Amateur. In 2019, he also secured victory at the New Zealand PGA Championship on the PGA Tour of Australia, where he won three consecutive titles earlier this year, marking his first wins as a professional.
Filipino Miguel Tabuena follows closely with a 67, sharing third place with Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, who played with borrowed clubs after his own didn’t arrive.
Tabuena finished fifth in the Kolon Korea Open two weeks ago, his best finish of the season on the Asian Tour. He regained his form by reverting to a set of clubs and a putter he had previously used, and this week, to his relief, he has continued his strong performance.
“I had no idea why I experimented (with new clubs),” said Tabuena. “It’s great to be to be hitting it well again. It’s very good to be holding that old putter that I had used for the last three years. It seems to be coming along. It’s not quite there. I had a few mental errors but there’s three days to go and it does look like it’s working now.
“I took advantage of the calmer conditions in the morning but I’m pretty tired. I’m still jetlagged. I actually have my whole team here this week.”
One of those team members is on his bag. He explained: “It was great. We were having fun the whole time. It’s my sister-in-law on the bag, Kayla. And it’s a bit different, but it seems to be working. I’m loving every second of it.”
Vincent was barely late for his tee-time because he had to go to Casablanca airport to collect his golf clubs, which, like his brother Kieran’s, hadn’t arrived with him. Unfortunately, the clubs still hadn’t arrived when he got back to Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, so he had to play with a set borrowed from the club pro and incurred a two-shot penalty, turning his par on the first hole into a double bogey.
“I had zero expectations today but feel we definitely learned something that will help us to get better in the future,” he said.
Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai and Sarit Suwannarut, Australia’s Travis Smyth, Sweden’s Charlie Lindh, Korea’s Yeongsu Kim, and India’s newly-turned professional Rayhan Thomas all scored 69s. The defending champion, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, shot a 73.
This week’s event marks the eighth of the season on the Asian Tour and the third of ten stops on The International Series.
