Red-hot Varun Chopra was close to a breakthrough win last week at Samanah Golf Club, and he continued his brilliant form in the weather-interrupted opening round of the US$125,000 Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech – Al Maaden Golf Resorts, shooting a bogey-free eight-under par 64.

The 24-year-old American, who co-led the tournament at the halfway stage last week with impeccable rounds of 67 and 66, slipped to tied ninth after a forgettable third-round 74. It was disappointing, but Chopra showed on Thursday that it had made no dent in his confidence.

Overcoming the hot conditions in the afternoon round, Chopra’s 64 was one better than Mexico’s Santiago De la Fuente, who is trying to kickstart his professional career. The 23-year-old, who played the Masters, the US Open and the Open Championship last year as a reward for winning the 2024 Latin American Amateur Championship, put together an impressive round of 65 that included two eagles.

Moroccan amateur Reda El Hali led the local challenge with a superb, bogey-free effort of six-under 66. He was joined in tied third place by Sweden’s Filip Lundell, England’s Sam Rook, Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig, and the Thai duo of Tanapat Pichaikool and Suttinon Panyo.

Play was suspended at 6:08 p.m. local time due to a lightning threat and sandstorms. Round 1 will commence at 7:20 a.m. on Friday, with Round 2 to start as scheduled at 7:45 a.m.

Santiago De la Fuente of Mexico. Picture by Kaikungwon Duanjumroon/Asian Tour

Chopra was eight-under par through 14 holes and finished with four straight pars. Even though he made a bunch of birdies, the Northwestern University alumni said his par saves were more memorable.

“I got off to a good start and was five-under on the front nine. I made a lot of good par saves. On the par-threes, I missed a couple of greens and my short game was pretty good. And then on the last hole as well, made a good up-and-down for par. So, it was good that I kept the round together,” said Chopra.

“I drove it pretty well, and I made some good clutch putts to save pars. To be honest, I had so many birdies, but I remember the pars more for some reason. It just feels like they were more important.

“Like, on the third hole, I missed the green on the par-three and was in the back bunker. I hit it to about 15-20 feet from the pin and made the putt. Those were kind of nice momentum pars. I feel like those were big. All the birdies were on par-fives and sort of regulation birdies.

“I learned a lot last week. The third round wasn’t great for me. I felt like I played well the other three days. I learned a lot from that Saturday, like how to mentally approach it a bit better.”

De la Fuente eagled two of the par-5s – the fourth and 13th – chipping in from 15 yards on both holes. His only bogey of the day came on the par-4 10th hole, and he closed with a birdie on the 18th.

“It was a good round. I hit it pretty solid. Then got lucky with a few chip-ins on par-fives, which helped me make the two eagles. I finished strong with a good birdie. I always found myself in the right position. I made just one mistake, and it cost me a bogey,” said De la Fuente.

The champion this week will almost be assured to get one of two invitations up for grabs for the US$2 million International Series Morocco, which will be played from July 3-6. The two leading players from an aggregate money list from the two Morocco ADT events (not otherwise exempt) will earn the invitations. Philippines’ Aidric Chan, winner last week, leads that list with India’s Karandeep Kochhar in second place.