RIYADH: Gabriel Canizares of Spain and England’s Craig Hinton took advantage of the soft conditions to share the lead after the first round on Monday in the 3rd American Express Dirab Golf Championship at Dirab Golf & Country Club.

The 41-year sophomore on the MENA Golf Tour, whose name does ring a bell because his father is the now retired European Tour veteran Jose Maria and brother Alejandro campaigns in Europe, shot a 7-under 65 to match the opening round of Hinton, 27, from Oxford, England.

Canizares and Hinton sit three strokes ahead of English amateur James Allan who fired 4-under to be alone in third place.

One stroke back on 69 is the trio of amateurs Ayoub Lguirati, from Morocco, and Elliott Oxlade, from England, and Spain’s Xavier Puig.

Three players namely Mariano Ochoa, another among the 10 Spanish professionals seeing action here, the 6th leg on the MENA Golf Tour, England’s Chris McDonnell and Thriston Arthur Lawrence from South Africa tied on 70.

There was another big group on 71 that includes Luke Joy of England and New Zealander Trevor Marshall.

Pakistani pro Shafiq Masih, the 2012 winner here, was let down by poor putting and settled for 72, even par on the flat but challenging Dirab Golf & Country Club course, in the company of three others.

Prince Khaled Saud Al Faisal, making his third straight start in this tournament, was the best-placed Saudi after the first round.

He was playing real solid to go 2-under at the turn and even went 3-under until a triple bogey on 15 and double bogey on 17 got him to 2-over 72. Ali Al Sakha was on 75 while the leading Saudi player Othman Almulla struggled to a 79.

Canizares had no such problem.

“It was fun to play the course. I was good from the tee and on the greens,” said Canizares who missed only two greens in a bogeyless 34-31 round.

Canizares had five birdies and highlighted his near-flawless round with an eagle on the par-5 15 where his 3-wood second shot landed one feet from the cup for a tap-in eagle putt.

The 27-year old Hinton also attacked the pins like Canizares to set up birdie opportunities. He converted six of them including on the 18th to finish with a flourish, pitching to within inches of the cup from 110 yards out.

A lone bogey on 17 spoiled what was otherwise a superb round that Hinton capped with an eagle-three on No. 13 where he hit a good drive, stabbed a 7-iron to 6 feet and holed the putt.

“I enjoyed the course. It was nice and I drove the ball really well. If you’re aggressive there will be a lot of opportunities for birdies,” said Hinton.