Mohammedia, Morocco: Joshua White putted superbly down the stretch as the Englishman shot a sizzling six-under 66 to set the early pace in the Royal D’Anfa Open, the opening event on the 2014 Mena Golf Tour schedule, on Tuesday.

White picked up four shots in his final five holes to take a two-shot lead over compatriot Zane Scotland, who returned a 68, as Italy’s Alessandro Tadini made a strong tour debut to move into a tie for third a further shot adrift along with Scotland’s Paul Doherty and Toni Ferrer of Spain.

Amid benign conditions, 22 players broke par, including Ross McGowan, the winner of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Golf Citizen Open, who shared sixth place with four others on two-under, while defending champion Stephen Dodd of Wales settled for a 74.

Sabri Mustapha of Morocco, who matched McGowan’s score, leads the Arab challenge. His compatriots Younes Al Hassani, Ahmad Marjane, Mohammad Bel Aroussia and Mohammad Khallali, who all returned 71s, as the leading home professional Faycal Serghini settled for a 73.

The day belonged to White, however, and he is poised to better his previous best performance on the Mena Tour — runner-up to Monaco’s Sandro Piaget at last year’s Ghala Valley Open in Oman, where he lost in a play-off.

“I played very steadily and hardly missed any greens, which gave me a lot of scoring opportunities,” he said. “A good spell with the putter on the final few holes was pretty nice.”

Scotland, who has won every opening event on the tour since its inception in 2011, put himself firmly in contention to keep the tradition going with a brilliant all-round display. “I think I played solid golf, which was nice. The conditions were pretty good for scoring since there was no wind,” said Scotland, who is also a golf in DUBAi ambassador.

“The course is in great condition and the greens are rolling nice,” said Scotland, who eagled the 16th when he drilled a five iron to within 20 feet and holed the ensuing putt.

England’s Ben Russell produced the shot of the day when he aced the par-3 eighth with a six iron from 175 yards for his career’s second hole-in-one.