Six top crowded leaderboard

A group of six players fired four-under-par 68s for a share of the lead after the opening round of the European Tour-sanctioned Qatar Masters on Thursday.

British trio Matthew Blackey, Andrew Oldcorn and Paul Broadhurst are tied with Japan's Nobuhito Sato, Sweden's Pierre Fulke and Austria's Martin Wiegele, one stroke clear of a group of eight players in the $1.5 million event.

Blackey peppered the pin with his approaches and the five birdies in his round came in the final eight holes.

"I played well last week but my putting was shocking. I've worked hard on it here with my coach Tim Barter and that has worked out well," Blackey said.

Broadhurst scored 34 on both nines although the former Ryder Cup player admitted that he had not slept well over the last two weeks but was glad to be back after missing the first two months of the season.

Like Blackey, Oldcorn favoured the back nine, where he recorded four birdies.

"It was a difficult day with the wind blowing most of the way round. It was a case of perseverance and trying not to make any mistakes," Oldcorn said.

After a strong second place finish last week, Ireland's Paul McGinley opened with a battling 72, recovering from a two-over-par front nine with a pair of late birdies to bring him back to even par.

Former U.S. Masters champion Ian Woosnam, who played the back nine first, was left to rue several missed short putts and had to settle for a three-under-par 69 for a share of seventh.

"I putted like an idiot the last few holes. I was putting well but missed from six feet on the sixth and 12 feet on the seventh and eight feet on the last," he said.

Defending champion Darren Fichardt of South Africa finished on two-under-par 70 while another former champion Andrew Coltart had a disastrous six-over-par 78.

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