Scott Henry carded a six under par opening round 66 at the Madeira Islands Open as the big-hitting Scot attempts to atone for his runner-up finish last year, missing out to Englishman Daniel Brooks in a play-off.
The 28 year old played in the first group on day one of the rescheduled event at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra and got off to a flying start with an eagle at the 11th, his second, before following that up with a birdie at the 12th and picking up three more shots thereafter.
The Glaswegian certainly has form on this course – his best finish on The European Tour came here last year, a play-off defeat that came under difficult and unique circumstances – following the tragic death of caddie Iain McGregor on the course.
“The way I got into the tournament - I was two back with four to play, holed a long par putt at 15 to keep me with have a chance and then I birdied the last three,” said Scott, a former amateur star who captained the Great Britain and Ireland Jacques Léglise Trophy team in 2005. “Those three holes are not easy to birdie, especially with the weather.
“I almost felt like it wasn’t a golden chance but I created a chance. Getting into the play-off was just great at the time. But I don’t really think about how it ended, I just think about how well I did to get into the play-off, especially after everything that had happened that day.
“Every time I play that ninth hole I think about what happened here last year. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, it’s important to remember Mac. It’s only natural, especially being right among it last year when it happened.
“The first four or five holes after going out, my concentration was everywhere, and then I got into it because I had to – I had almost played myself out of the tournament.
“I like coming here though. I try and get myself to feel like I can win every week and some weeks you feel like you have more of a chance than others but it’s a long way to go. I’ve put myself in a good position though after the first round.”
Henry was delighted with his first round performance and thinks the greens are better than he has ever seen them at the picturesque mountain-top venue.
“They are good scoring conditions but it’s not easy on that course either,” he said. “You need to be on the fairway to get control of the approaches.
“The greens are soft though and they’re running well too. It’s probably the best I’ve seen the greens here, I know in the past the conditions haven’t helped, but it’s certainly helped the course. They’re running nicely and they’re receptive too which is probably the biggest reason for the scoring.
“It kind of suits my game here. On a couple of those holes uphill – I hit the ball quite high and I don’t need to do anything with it, just hammer the driver and it almost feels like more of an advantage than I would normally have from the tee.
“It’s a course where I can’t let loose on, even though I’ve scored well, but you’re always on the edge and you have to stay focussed on keeping it tight from every tee, but that’s probably a good thing for me.”
