Staff WriterScott Vincent has planted himself firmly in the spotlight—and fittingly, on homegrown turf. The Zimbabwean standout surged to a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the US$2 million International Series Morocco, firing a sizzling 66 on Friday at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
With the grass imported straight from Zimbabwe, Vincent might as well be playing in his own backyard.
The 33-year-old, who has quietly pieced together a strong 2025 with seven top-12 finishes in 10 starts worldwide, seems poised to bag his first win of the season. And if Friday’s round is anything to go by, his putter has finally caught up with the rest of his game.
“It actually feels a lot like the golf courses I grew up playing on in Zimbabwe, so there’s a bit of a home vibe going on,” Vincent said, practically glowing in the Moroccan sun. “The grass is the same. Someone just told me today that they imported all the grass from Zimbabwe here, so that’s kind of cool. There’s definitely something about being on African soil that just feels great.”
And it showed. Starting from the 10th tee, Vincent rolled in birdies on the 11th and 12th, backed it up with a pair on the 17th and 18th, and kept his foot down with more on the second and third.
He reached nine-under for the tournament before a hiccup—a three-putt bogey on his final hole—cut short what could’ve been a flawless card. Still, it was the lowest round of the week and enough to leapfrog into the lead.
“It was awesome. A lot of things went really well, so very happy about that. But tons of golf left,” he added, tempering the optimism with a seasoned golfer’s realism.
As for his form this season? Vincent didn’t overthink it. “It’s just the ups and downs of golf. I think we kind of find some form, lose some form, and it’s just part of what we do,” he said.
“I feel like I’m doing a lot of the same things that I’ve been doing for quite a few years… just tightening up a few little things.”
Snapping at his heels is Australia’s Maverick Antcliff, who carded a steady 70 to sit two shots back. The 32-year-old, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour China, is still chasing that elusive Asian Tour title. His patience may be paying off.
“It was pretty solid. I was out of position the first couple of holes, made a couple of nice par putts, and then was really solid after that,” said Antcliff, whose round was highlighted by a scrappy birdie at the third. “It was still a nice shot from where I was and a nice birdie to make on a very difficult hole.”
Things were shaping up nicely for Peter Uihlein, too. The American and two-time International Series winner was nine-under through 14 holes and breathing down Vincent’s neck.
But the golfing gods giveth and they taketh away—Uihlein limped home with three bogeys in his final four holes, finishing with a 72 to join Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai (67) at six-under.
New Zealand’s Ben Campbell, the defending champion, found his rhythm early in the day and carded a bogey-free 68.
His score of five-under tied him with a cosmopolitan mix that included John Lyras (71) of Australia, Sweden’s Charlie Lindh (69), Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu (70), and China’s Yanwei Liu (70).
“I hit the ball really well. I didn’t really hole anything on the greens, unfortunately,” said Campbell. “Felt like it was a day that could have been a lot, lot better, so that was a little bit frustrating.”
The cut was set at one-over-par 147—cruel, but fair, as the field jostled to stay in contention for what’s fast becoming one of the year’s most fiercely contested events.
Then there was Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, known as ‘Fever’, who lit up the leaderboard with the tournament’s first hole-in-one. He flushed a five-iron on the 206-yard second that never left the pin—straight in, second competitive ace of his career.
“It was playing 203 yards, and there was no wind out there,” Nitithorn said. “I just figured out with Sebastian [his caddie] that being short was better and hit the five-iron. It just landed like four or five yards before the pin and got a big bounce and went straight in.”
And so, the International Series Morocco—now in its fourth of ten elevated stops on the Asian Tour’s path to the LIV Golf League—rolls into the weekend with Scott Vincent on top, the scent of Zimbabwean grass in the air, and a leaderboard ready to combust.
