Sweden’s Magnus Persson Atlevi emerged from a four month winter break to take the clubhouse lead after the first day of the Madeira Island Open, shooting a five under par 67, although he was overtaken on the leaderboard by Brad Kennedy as the Australian raced to seven under par through 11 holes before darkness brought an end to an opening day disrupted by low cloud and heavy rain.
Kennedy, second in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur last month, produced flawless golf as he picked up an eagle and five birdies to overhaul Persson Atlevi at Santo da Serra. He will return to the course at 8am along with 60 other players to complete their opening rounds. Among the other players still out on the course is Swede Mattias Eliasson on five under par through nine holes and the defending champion Bradley Dredge, four under through 14 holes.
“I was five under through the ninth and then birdied the first and second,” said Kennedy. “I didn’t want to stop. I played great. Didn’t miss one shot the whole day, gave myself a lot of chances and holed a few putts. Eagled the 11th which was nice after hitting the approach to 12 feet. Got things rolling nicely and I was able to pick the lines on the putts.”
Persson Atlevi, who along with newly appointed European Team Vice Captain Anders Forsbrand and Ove Sellberg was among the first of the Swedish contingent to join The European Tour over 20 years ago, was playing his first competitive round of golf since the Qualifying School Finals last November.
Shrugging off any signs of rust, the 38 year old, hoping to follow his countrymen Niclas Fasth, Mats Lanner and Jarmo Sandelin into the winner’s circle at Santo da Serra, picked up four birdies and an eagle with just the one dropped shot to set the early pace.
“It was a fantastic day,” said Persson Atlevi, who has two second place finishes on The European Tour to his name. “Played beautifully for 18 holes.
“After the winter break and putting some distance between myself and the game, I find I get the interest back. I have been doing this all my life but feel I am learning and getting to know how you should do it. I feel I should perhaps be on the coaching side but think if I know all this then why not try it on myself. I feel I am improving and if you start playing well there is a terrific amount of money now to play for. But the main point is I enjoy it.”
England’s David Dixon, happy to be back on European soil for the first time this season, lies one shot adrift of Persson Atelvi having enjoyed his fair share of luck around the mountains of Madeira during his opening 68, the highlight being an eagle two on the 14th where he holed his 69 yard approach. Dixon rose to prominence when he won the silver medal as the leading amateur in the 2001 Open Golf Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes. After turning professional later that year, Dixon earned his European Tour card through the Tour School in 2002 and, after finishing the 2003 season in 158th place in the Volvo Order of Merit, regained his playing privileges again last November.
Joint eighth place in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open represents the highlight of his 2004 season to date but after a lesson from coach Denis Pugh after his return from Singapore, Dixon has received a well-timed confidence boost.
“I hit a few better shots today anyway,” he said. “I was more consistent. I was getting a bit narrow on the downswing so I was just trying to get a bit more width. Something really simple but you don’t realise it when you play. It was a good lesson and gave me a little confidence I needed. It was a bit loose still but definitely better.”
Asked what lessons he has learned from last year and his subsequent visit to the Qualifying School, he replied: “Patience. I felt every week I was under pressure to win €80,000 to get in the safety zone but you don’t need to. There are so many tournaments to play in and you just have to wait until you play well and make the most of it. So I need to try and be a bit more patient.”
He was joined late in the day on four under par 68 by Scot Euan Little. Another Englishman Sam Walker was on course to join Persson Atlevi at the top of the leaderboard having moved to five under par through 15 holes when the cloud came down and play was suspended at 13.40. Returning to the course after a delay of two hours 20 minutes, Walker bogeyed the seventh and ninth holes to finish his round on three under par 69 along with Danes Jeppe Huldahl and Knud Storgaard.
Play will resume at 8am GMT for those players still to complete their first rounds with the second round starting at 8.55am.
