England’s Chris Gane grabs the lead in the opening round of Madeira Island Open BPI Portugal
Challenge Tour’s regular player, Englishman Chris Gane struck a stunning five-under, 67, at the artistic Seve Ballesteros designed Porto Santo Golfe at Madeira Island to gain a lead of one stroke over runners up Frenchman François Delamontagne and Lloyd
Saltman of Scotland.
Gane treaded the Porto Santo GC majestically on a windswept day and carded six birdies and stumbled with just one bogey at the par-five, 10th to finally come out as the leader in the first round of Madeira Island open.
Gane attributed his first round lead to the precious advice he received from his compatriot and playing partner Tom Whitehouse, though Whitehouse himself, had a disappointing day with an over-par, 74.
“Golf’s a very bizarre game – I felt pretty low after the final round last week, and I had about seven hours to kill before my flight, so I spoke to Tom Whitehouse and he agreed to have a look at me hitting a few balls,” Gane was later talking to the press.
“He gave me a lesson for about 45 minutes, and it’s changed everything. So I owe him a lot, and I might even treat him to a drink later – but only because our hotel’s all-inclusive!”
Delamontagne, who has yet to record a win on the tour, played with great poise to challenge the leader throughout the day. Opening his round with a birdie, the Frenchman stumbled with two back to back bogeys at fourth and fifth to fall back. He recovered
quickly to card another birdie at the sixth, only to lose it again with a bogey at the eighth. The 32-year-old, displaying enormous resilience, pulled in two splendid eagles at par-five, 10th and par-four, 14th with just one bogey in
the middle. He closed his first round with two more birdies on the last holes.
Delamontagne regarded the strong winds as the reason behind his first round performance citing that strong winds always help with his style of stroke playing. He also referred to his short game which has been the source of his good score and hoped that the
wind would continue for the rest of the tournament though most of the field would be hoping otherwise.
Saltman shared the views of Delamontagne and regarded the winds as the major factor of his improved putting. The 25-year-old European Tour rookie had a lack luster start of the day but closed on a better note, birdying three of the final four holes.
Three players, Joakim Haeggman of Sweden, Lee Slattery of England and Federico Colombo of Italy are tied for the fourth place with three-under, 69. Emanuele Canonica, former Johnnie Walker champion, and home player José-Filipe Lima were further shot back,
tied for the seventh along with Sweden’s Fredrik Henge.
Surprisingly though, Lima also related his better performance to the high winds that slashed the course all day. Lima is hopeful to keep performing in the proceeding rounds of the tournament and ultimately bag the title on the final day.
The weather conditions and the wind speeds in particular, will play a decisive role in the coming rounds.
Tags: