Rookie Anna Foster was so relaxed she "laughed the whole way around" and opened with a three-under 70 to leap straight into contention in the Ladies European Tour's Lalla Meryem Cup.

The Elm Park golfer (23) finished the opening day in a tie for seventh place, just three shots behind American pacesetter Brianna Navarrosa at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam's Blue Course in Morocco.

"It was such a good day and a really fun group," said Foster, one of three Irishwomen to win full LET cards at December's Q-School.

"I've played with Amy [Taylor] before, and we just laughed the whole way round.

"I wasn't even noticing my score throughout the round. It was just a solid and consistent day with not many big mistakes."

Navarrosa carded a six-under 67 to lead by a shot from Sweden's Kajsa Arwefjall and Spain's Ana Pelaez Trivino, while Cork star Sara Byrne opened her season with a two-under 71 to share 14th.

"I felt like I played really well and just made a few rusty mistakes out there," said the Douglas golfer (23), who plans to play mainly on the LPGA's second-tier Epson Tour this year and bid for one of ten LPGA cards.

"Obviously, it's the first back event after a while, so I felt my game was pretty good. It's honestly just nice to have a bit of fun, and I'm enjoying being back and enjoying the rookie season."

Lurgan's Annabel Wilson fought back from four over after ten holes to be level par playing the last only to run up a double bogey six for a 75 that left her tied for 71st alongside Olivia Mehaffey and Lauren Walsh.

The event is being played alongside the PGA Tour Champions' Trophy Hassan II, where Pádraig Harrington's one-under 72 on the Red Course left him just three shots behind England's Simon Griffiths and Kiwi Steven Alker in joint 15th.

At the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Conor Purcell was tied for 40th on one-under through 17 holes when play was suspended in Doha due to darkness.

England's Brandon Robinson Thompson found himself at the top of the first-round leaderboard for the second week in a row as his six-under 66 gave him a share of top spot with Denmark's Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

"The first round is always important; it can get you in the tournament, and you can relax and build on it," Robinson Thompson said.

Neergaard-Petersen won three times to top the HotelPlanner Tour rankings en route to earning his DP World Tour card last year.

Galway's Liam Nolan will be hoping to follow in Dane's footsteps after he continued his lightning start to the season in the C Cell Cape Town Open.

After finishing third and joint fourth in his first two starts, the Barna rookie (24) made four birdies in a three-under 69 to share fifth place after day one, just three shots behind Italy's Filippo Celli.

"Very happy again," said Nolan, who lies second in the rankings race for 20 DP World Tour cards.

"I played some lovely golf today in tough conditions. It's a tight golf course with a lot of wind, so it was a case of just plugging away, trying to make as many pars as possible, and hopefully, a few putts drop, and they did today."

Nolan received invitations via the Golf Ireland Professional Scheme for the first two events but only needed to use the first after finishing third in the SDC Open two weeks ago.

Playing without tour status, he needs top-five finishes to earn invitations into subsequent co-sanctioned events, but he's not yet thinking about next week's NTT Data Pro-Am at Fancourt.

"Certainly not yet, maybe coming down the last two holes on Sunday if I'm in that position," he said. "I'm just going to try and keep as close to the top of the leaderboard as I can for the first three days and see where I'm sitting on Sunday."

Jonathan Caldwell was 41st after a 72, but Max Kennedy and Dermot McElroy must go low now to make the weekend after opening with six-over 78s.