Riffa: Spain's Alejandro Del Rey and Germany's Freddy Schott shared the lead after the opening round of the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, each carding 65 strokes, seven under par, at the Royal Golf Club. The championship is part of the DP World Tour and features 138 players from 28 countries competing for total prize money of USD 2.75 million.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the event is held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Defending champion Laurie Canter of England finished one stroke behind the leaders on six under par, alongside New Zealand's Daniel Hillier, Sweden's Niklas Lemke, Germany's Nicolai von Dellingshausen, and India's Shubhankar Sharma.
Among locally based participants, Tom Sloman recorded 74 strokes at two over par. Malaysia's Zubair Firdaus finished on 75 strokes at three over par, while Bahraini players Ali Al Kuwari and Khalifa Al Marisi posted rounds of 79 and 88 strokes, respectively.