Sweden’s Niclas Fasth, runner-up in the European Tour Qualifying School Finals last year, set the early pace with an opening 66, six under par, to lead the Madeira Island Open at Santo da Serra.
The 27-year-old fired a flawless round in which he twice chipped in for birdie to move two clear of New Zealand’s Elliott Boult, another Qualifying School graduate, Frenchman Nicholas Marin, and Swede Henrik Stenson.
Fasth has twice finished runner-up on the European Tour and won the 1996 Qualifying School Finals but is still searching for his maiden title and the victory he is sure will come sooner or later.
“I’m definitely going after this tournament as I would any other tournament,” he said. “I’ve finished second twice but not had many top five’s. I’ve given myself a few years to develop my swing and now feel ready. It could be this week. I’m going to win. I will definitely win….whenever.
“I’ve had a problem on the greens this year but I feel as I am putting well now.”
Boult, who claimed the 31st card at the Tour School, has missed the cut in all five tournaments he has played this year during a dismal run of form in which he has also lost his Australian Tour card. But after studying his set-up in front of the mirror in his hotel room last night he noticed his hips were not lined up and made the necessary adjustment. The result was instantaneous as he fired a 68, his best round of the year.
Marin, a graduate in Political Science and Business from Berkeley University in California, received an invitation from the French Federation to his first European Tour event since turning professional last year and made an immediate impact with a round that included seven birdies. The 25-year-old has decided to join the professional ranks after eight years of study that also included a Masters degree in Paris.
Stenson, runner-up last week in the Tusker Kenya Open and playing his second event of the year, only dropped the one shot in his round. Last year he finished 21st in the Challenge Tour Rankings in just seven events, twice finishing runner-up. He has continued that form in this, his second full season as a professional and only his second European Tour event as a pro.
A further shot back is the 18-year-old amateur from the host club, Joao Umbelino. Currently studying engineering at Lisbon University, Umbelino has taken time out from his studies to return to Santo da Serra for the tournament.
“I know the course pretty well,” he said. “My tee shots were not great but my short game and putting was very good today.”
He shares fifth place with Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg and Christopher Hanell and Austrian Marcus Brier.
Pre-tournament favourite Paul McGinley, chasing the last automatic spot on the Great Britain and Ireland team for the inaugural Seve Ballesteros opened with a solid two-under-par 70.
