Nick Dougherty makes a solid start at the Madeira Islands Open after a long break
Nick Dougherty played well in the first round of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal, making a solid return to professional golf after a six-week layoff.
The 29-year-old English professional golf player shot a 3-under 69 on Thursday, May 10, 2012. He made an impressive return and scored well, at the Santo da Serra in Madeira, Portugal.
He started the tournament at par, carded a bogey on the second hole and scored a massive birdie on the third hole. He then made three consecutive pars and amazed the spectators for scoring an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole.
Later, he shot another birdie on the ninth hole and finished the front nine holes by scoring 33 out of 36. He reached the top-10 positions on the leaderboard and aimed to maintain his magic form on the back nine as well.
He faced difficulty scoring on the back nine holes and shot only two birdies. He was going fine till the twelfth hole. However, he was unable to maintain his enormous scores as he carded two bogeys.
He is currenetly tied for the 22nd leaderboard position with 18 other professionals and is in state of direct competition as well.
“It’s been a long time since I can say I am looking forward to my golf as I just punished myself so hard trying to hold onto my main Euro-pean Tour card,” Dougherty said.
He got married to the former TV presenter, Di Stewart in 2010. Now, the couple is expecting a birth of their first child in August. The excitement level of Dougherty is very high and he desires to record some impressive wins, before the birth of his child.
He said: “I can’t wait to become a father and Di and I are so much looking forward to the birth. She’s here with me this week and that’s great”.
He turned professional in 2001 and has won three professional so far. More importantly, all the three wins were recorded on the European Tour.
He won the title of the Caltex Masters in 2005. Then he grabbed a two-stroke victory at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2007, and his third victory was recorded at the BMW International Open in 2009.
Analysts said that he is capable enough to trouble rivals in Portugal. He can win the title of the Madeira Islands Open, if he scores consistently till the final round.
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