The 27-year-old had four birdies going out and three more coming home in a flawless seven-under 63 to edge the English duo of Stuart Archibald and Luke Joy, Scot Daniel Hendry and South African Luke Trocado on the opening day of the MENA Tour’s penultimate event of 2017.

Italian Philip Geerts and Scot Robert MacIntyre moved into a two-way tie for sixth on five-under 65, one ahead of a nine-man group that included two-time MENA Tour winner Andrew Marshall and English amateur champion Todd Clements.

Order of merit leader Jamie Elson signed for a level par 71 to be T-28, two shots Swede Fredrik From who is third in the points race behind as second-placed Joy stole an early march on his rivals.

Fresh from a T-3 finish at last week’s Jordan’s AYLA Golf Championship, Sturehed rode a hot driver in Kuwait City to fall just a shot shy of the course record, jointly held by defending champion Joe Heraty and Chile’s Matias Calderon.

Related: Swede Sturehed fires course record, finds Joy atop the Ayla Golf Championship leaderboard

“I struck the ball very well off the tee and holed some good putts when I needed to and that was the key to going low today,” said Sturehed.

“The course is playing nice and there are plenty of scoring opportunities out there if you can hit the fairways in regulation.”

Archibald finished sixth in Kuwait last year after taking a two-shot lead into the final round and rekindled those found memories by also going bogey-free. “I played some lovely golf. Missed just one green which means I had 17 chances to pick up a shot,” said the 33-year-old Englishman.

“I struggled a bit to get the pace of the greens on the front nine as I had arrived just in time for my tee time, but found the touch as the round wore one. Didn’t miss any green coming home.” s

who finished in a tie for sixth last year after heading into the final round with a two-shot lead.

Perennial contender Joy produced one of the highlights of the day, hitting a 3-iron from 228 yards to within 15 feet on the 9th before duly holing the putt for an eagle-3 en-route to a tidy 64.

“I hit the ball clean throughout the day and putted solidly. The course is nice. Had some good fun out there,” said the Englishman, a two-timer winner on the MENA Tour.

Trocado also had a good day at work, reeling off six birdies, two eagles and three bogeys to put himself firmly in the mix.

England’s Todd Clements continued his purple patch of form with an opening with a 66 to lead the amateur division by a stroke from Switzerland’s Michael Harradine. Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla settled for a 75.

Elsewhere, defending champion Heraty slipped into a tie for 46th after carding a 72 while Morocco’s Ahmed Marjan posted a bogey-free 69 as UAE’s Ahmed Al Musharrekh, three over through 10th, recovered well to sign for a 71.

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The former England wicketkeeper-batsman earned his MENA Tour card in Morocco last week in a giant step towards his lofty dream of becoming a European Tour regular.

He doesn’t have to wait long to face his first examination as a touring professional with the 29-year-old set to tee it up in the MENA Tour’s $40,000 season-opening Palmeraie Country Club Casablanca Open on Tuesday.

The 54-holer on the six-month old course comes after the South African-born Kieswetter tweeted his delight at successfully negotiating the Middle East and North Africa developmental Pro-Am tour’s qualifying school.

Living the dream, from one sport as a professional to another! Qualified for @MENAGolfTour 2017 – double ???? up pic.twitter.com/SiHPu4d0iy

— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) March 11, 2017

He finished T31 at El Jadida Golf Club in Mazagan – the top 55 and ties earned MENA Tour cards for 2017 – but his 18-over-par total of 234 (77-82-75) shows he still has a way to go to achieve his dream of reaching the European Tour within two years.

Kieswetter was capped 71 times by England – 46 one day internationals and 25 T20 matches – between 2010 and 2013. He was named man of the match after scoring 63 off 49 deliveries in England’s victory over Australia in the World T20 Cup final in 2010 in Barbados but had his cricket career cut short after being struck by a bouncer playing a country match for Somerset in July 2014.

The delivery from Northamptonshire paceman David Willey squeezed through the grille of his helmet, breaking his nose and smashing his eye socket to “pieces”. Though he briefly attempted a comeback, his sight was permanently damaged and definitely no good at night where the white ball and the glare of floodlights proved uncomfortable bedfellows.

His face rebuilt with metal implants and his financial situation comfortable (among his entrepreneur father’s business interests is a distillery in Scotland), Kieswetter was encouraged to go on a golf break. In Florida he arranged for some lessons from David Leadbetter where his natural ability shone and a seed was planted.

Apparently chicks dig scars…?! #rocky pic.twitter.com/DcGBhp5unN

— Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) July 13, 2014

Kieswetter told The Telegraph recently that he is convinced he has the ability and, crucially, the time to make it in pro golf.

“I think at the beginning there was a bit of: who does he think he is?” he said. “Even now, every tournament I go to I’m introduced as the ex-England cricketer. It does frustrate me.

“But it was the same when I first played cricket. Then it was ‘here’s the lad from the affluent family’. That desire to prove people wrong was quite a big thing for me.”

KANDY, SRI LANKA – Craig Kieswetter of England celebrates catching out Kane Williamson of New Zealand during the ICC World Twenty20 2012. Photos by Getty Images

The Casablanca Open, which concludes Thursday, won’t be Kieswetter’s first MENA Tour start. He finished T31 on level par as an amateur in the inaugural Sahara Kuwait Championship last October.

Englishmen Benjamin David and Edward Holland and Scotland’s Daniel Hendry are others set to make their professional debuts at Palmeraie Country Club among a record MENA Tour field of 137 players, including 19 amateurs, from 25 countries. Scotland’s Grant Forrest and India’s Feroz Singh Garewal also graduated from Q-School alongside Kieswetter.

England’s Zane Scotland, awarded the first MENA Tour life-membership by tour patron and 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke at last month’s Dubai Desert Classic, will go in search of a record 11^th win.

Other notables in the field are 2016 moneylist winner Craig Hinton, fellow Englishman Lee Corfield, Andrew Marshall, Luke Joy, and Jake Shepherd – all multiple winners on the MENA Tour – 2014 order of merit champion Joshua White and Spanish swashbuckler Carlos Balmaseda.

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