• When Des Smyth won the 2001 Madeira Islands Open he created European Tour history by becoming the oldest winner of a European Tour event, aged 48 and 34 days, beating the record of Neil Coles, who was 48 and 14 days , in winning the 1982 Sanyo Open.
• Defending champion, Jean Van de Velde claimed his second European Tour International Schedule victory, 12 years and 342 days after his first at the 1993 Roma Masters. His gap between victories is the third largest in European Tour history. Ironically, the player who holds the record, David Frost is competing under a sponsors invitation. His time span was 14 years and 95 days, between winning the 1984 Cannes Open and 1999 South African Open.
• Madeira has been a happy hunting ground for Swedish golfers, having recorded five victories in the event. They are: Mats Lanner (1994, 98), Jarmo Sandelin (1996), Niclas Fasth (2000) and Christopher Hanell (2004). Along with the Open de España, the Madeira Islands Open BPI has been the most successful European Tour event for Sweden with five wins.
