Qatar Masters: Paul Lawrie tied third with bogey-free 

 67 behind leader Oliver Fisher (65)

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England’s Oliver Fisher produced a seven under par 65 to lead the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters after the opening day in Doha.
The 26 year old won the Czech Open in 2011, but then went two years without a top-ten finish before rediscovering his touch in 2014, when a runner-up placing at the Africa Open was the highlight.
And Fisher, who was the youngest player in Walker Cup history when he appeared as a 16 year old in 2005, was in fine form at Doha Golf Club as he carded eight birdies against a single bogey.
That put him one ahead of Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello, with Major Champions Ernie Els and Paul Lawrie part of an 11-way tie for third on five-under 67
Fisher started at the tenth and pitched to four feet on his opening hole for birdie, then gained another shot at the day before his only blemish came at the 13th.
A hat-trick of birdies from the 16th followed, and further gains on the fourth, sixth and eighth completed an excellent opening gambit.
“I played nicely today - it was a little bit breezy and I felt like I controlled my golf ball,” said Fisher.
“I played well and gave myself a lot of chances so it was a good round.
“It's a great field like last week - I'm out there giving it my all every time until the last shot and hopefully add them up at the end of the day and hopefully it's a good run.”
The 30 year old Cabrera-Bello, third here in 2011 and 2014, produced six birdies in his flawless round – the best of which came when his excellent tee shot at the eighth finished a couple of feet from the pin.
“I’m very pleased and happy with the way I played, and looking forward to tomorrow and the weekend,” said two-time European Tour winner Cabrera-Bello.
“I had a good stretch through 16, and all the way through to two, which for me are the birdie holes where you can go low. I managed to do that with three birdies there, and just kept playing solid till I got home.”
Els birdied the last after an excellent pitch from the sand, and was pleased with an improved putting display which left him alongside Lawrie, compatriots Darren Fichardt and Branden Grace, Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares, German Moritz Lampert, rookie Byeong-hun An, Swedes Kristoffer Broberg and Alex Noren, England’s Mark Foster and Argentine Emiliano Grillo.
“For such a long time, I've been quite a grumpy guy,” said Els, a four-time Major winner. “I'm actually not a grumpy guy; I'm quite a happy guy, but when you're not making putts, you can't help yourself. You can't play the game if you're not making any putts.
“So today I didn't hit it that well with the irons but got the ball up-and-down. I'm not feeling so tense and afraid of those short putts - we can play golf again.”
SCOTSWATCH: Paul Lawrie had a bogey-free 67, birdieing the third, fifth, seventh, 10th and 16th.
Stephen Gallacher and Scott Jamieson are T14 on 68.
David Drysdale is T35 on 70.
Marc Warren and Chris Doak are sharing 53rd place on 71.
Richie Ramsay needs a good second round to make the cut after playing himself into T83 with a 73.
Craig Lee had a 75 for T105.

OTHER NOTES
• Englishman Jason Palmer carded his first par on the 12th hole, following five birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey on his first 11 holes.
• Justin Rose is playing his 250th European Tour event this week.
First round scores
 Par 72
65 O Fisher  (Eng)
66 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp)  
67 P Lawrie (Sco) , E Els (RSA) , M Foster (Eng) , B Grace  (RSA) , M Lampert (Ger) , A Cañizares  (Esp) , E Grillo (Arg) , A Noren  (Swe) , B An (SKor) , D Fichardt (RSA) , K Broberg (Swe) 68 S Gallacher (Sco) , G Coetzee (RSA) , J Morrison  (Eng) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , D McGrane (Irl) , J Rose (Eng) , S Jamieson  (Sco) , M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 
69 T Aiken (RSA) , S Garcia  (Esp) , E Pepperell (Eng) , B Wiesberger  (Aut) , B Rumford (Aus) , M Tullo (Chi) , C Schwartzel  (RSA) , T Jaidee (Tha) , R Gonzalez (Arg) , R Paratore (Ita) , A Johnston (Eng) , T Olesen (Den) , P Uihlein  (USA) 
70 P Lawrie (Irl) , R Karlsson (Swe), G Havret  (Fra), J Singh (Ind) , N Colsaerts  (Bel) , P Waring  (Eng) , E Espana (Fra) , S Benson (Eng) , R Fisher (Eng) , G Bourdy (Fra) , R Green (Aus) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , A Quiros  (Esp) , M Baldwin (Eng) , D Drysdale (Sco) , M Ford (Eng) , S Kapur (Ind) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , H Stenson (Swe) , J Quesne  (Fra)  
71 F Zanotti (Par) , A Sullivan (Eng) , O Wilson (Eng) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , J Kruger (RSA) , E Molinari  (Ita) , D Foos (Ger) , A Levy (Fra) , A Hansen (Den) , M Carlsson  (Swe) , C Doak (Sco) , S Khan (Eng) , F Aguilar (Chi) , M Kieffer (Ger) , R Finch  (Eng) , M Hoey  (Nir) , M Warren (Sco)  
72 T Lewis (Eng) , D Van Der Walt (RSA) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra) , G Mulroy (RSA) , R Rock (Eng) , B Hebert  (Fra) , J Barnes (Eng) , J Campillo (Esp) , M Ilonen  (Fin) , M Nixon (Eng) , G Stal  (Fra)
73 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , T Fleetwood  (Eng) , S Hutsby  (Eng) , T Pieters  (Bel) , M Korhonen (Fin) , R Ramsay  (Sco) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , J Olazábal (Esp) , D Howell (Eng) , A Otaegui  (Esp) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , Y Yang (SKor)  
74 S Hend (Aus) , N Fasth (Swe) , B Dredge (Wal) , J Carlsson (Swe) , M Siem  (Ger) , R Bland (Eng) , W Ormsby (Aus) , S Dyson  (Eng) , D Brooks (Eng) , J Parry (Eng)  
75 A Wall (Eng) , C Lee (Sco) , S Hansen (Den) , R Wattel  (Fra) , L Bjerregaard  (Den) , J Roos (RSA) , T Hatton (Eng) , D Lipsky (USA)  
76 M Crespi  (Ita) , M Manassero (Ita) , O Farr (Wal) , S Webster (Eng) , G Storm  (Eng) , M Madsen  (Den) , J Palmer (Eng) , M Fraser (Aus) , T Tree (Eng) , A Murdaca (am) (Aus) 
77 J Hrinda (am) (Svk)  
78 J Jeong (SKor)  
79 A Al Kaabi (am) (Qat)  
85 A Al-Shahrani (am) (Qat)

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