Following the first 18 holes of action of Final Qualifying for Lalla Aicha Q-School on Wednesday, South Africa’s Caitlyn Macnab, Wales’ Ffion Tynan, Iceland’s Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir, Nigeria’s Georgia Oboh, Isle of Man’s Ana Dawson, Poland’s Dorota Zalewska and Mexico’s Alejandra Llaneza lead the way on five-under par.

Six of this group fired rounds of 68 at Al Maaden with Zalewska carding the low round of the day 67 at the tree-lined Royal Marrakech. The tournament was reduced to 72 holes due to heavy rainfall on Tuesday, and round two resumed on Wednesday with 155 players taking to the two courses.

A first-timer at Lalla Aicha Q-School, Macnab, started strong despite being in the hospital with sickness the night before. The 23-year-old had an eventful day making eight birdies and dropping three shots.

Macnab said: “I was in the hospital until 1am in the morning last night with my caddie. I’m just glad I was able to play so to be able to start how I did was awesome. It was a mental grind as I’m still not feeling too great. I got some tests done but thankfully all good. I got put on an IV and feel like a new person.

“I played the par-5s really well and hit every green apart from two. I sunk some long putts too which is always nice. It’s nice to be peaking at the right time. I’ve worked hard with my coach Grant Veenstra. His wife, Nicole Garcia, who’s been on tour for years, also gave me a couple words of advice beforehand.”

Nadia van der Westhuizen opened with a three-under-par 70 at Al Maaden for a share of 16th, while Gabrielle Venter was on two-under in a share of 30th after her round at Al Maaden.

Kaiyuree Moodley opened with a one-over 73 at Royal Marrakech, and amateur Jordan Rothman had a four-over 77 at Al Maaden.