Day one digest: Portugal Masters

Everything you need to know from day one at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.

De Jager made a dash as the bubble boys burst up the leaderboard on the opening day of the Portugal Masters.

Here is everything you need to know from Thursday at the Portugal Masters.

Perfect Portuguese peak from De Jager

The Qualifying School is difficult and so is being a rookie having come through that golfing marathon to secure your European Tour card for the first time. But it does prepare you for pressure so maybe it should not have been any surprise at all when Louis de Jager produced a bogey free 63 for his lowest ever European Tour round and a two shot lead as he fights to keep his card. "I think everyone is more conscious of where they are," he said. "My back is against the wall a little bit, for me I can only go forward. I’m using that as extra motivation and encouragement - not that you need it but that did help a little bit."

Déjà vu for Walters

It was seven years ago that Justin Walters holed a monster putt on the last for a par that would see him finish second at this event and keep his card. The outpouring of emotion that followed was partly relief but also partly due to the fact that Walters had sadly recently lost his mother. The South African's father sadly passed away this summer and once again Walters finds himself in Vilamoura looking to keep his playing privileges. An opening bogey free 65 means the 39-year-old once again finds himself in a position to overcome adversity and stay on Tour. "I’ll draw on those experiences, I do that all the time when I’m here," he said. "You can do that all you want but you have to move the ball from A to B and get in the hole."

65 for Mr 59

From 59 to 112 - a year can make quite a difference. It was at this event last season where Oliver Fisher entered the history books by shooting the first 59 in European Tour history. This time around he is playing not for history but for his card as he sits at 112th on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex. The Englishman matched Walters with a 65 to put himself in an excellent position with three days to go. "I actually played really well today but it’s funny to think I had to be six shots better to do that (59) again," he said. "It was a great day. This course has given low scores over the years - anything is possible out there."

Portuguese putting perfection

Throughout the practice rounds this week much of the talk was about the speed of the greens and that they could possibly be the quickest faced in Europe this season. Well if they were they certainly suited some of the field as first Matt Wallace did this.

And then Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño holed from further out.

Pretty slick, gents.