Lloyd Saltman equalled his best round as a professional to storm into an early lead on the opening day of the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI as an eight under par 64 moved him four shots clear of the field.
The Scotsman, who played alongside Rory McIlroy amongst others at the 2007 Walker Cup, made the perfect start with a birdie at the first before three more in a row from the third moved him to four under par through five holes.
He managed to stay steady in the breezy conditions at the stunning Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra before another birdie at the ninth took him to the turn in five under.
The Edinburgh man, who was a picture of calmness throughout his opening round at the Madeira venue, gained another shot at the 11th before mistakenly hitting the wrong gap wedge into the green at the 12th and subsequently falling to his first bogey of the day.
He bounced straight back in superb fashion, however, as a birdie at the 13th cancelled out his only blemish of the day, before two more birdies on the way in earned him an early lead.
“I'm very pleased with my round,” said the 27 year old. “It wasn’t easy out there today, with the wind swirling and getting very strong at certain points.
“I just played really well tee to green and made the putts I needed to make and my short game was really good as well so I can’t really pick any faults from that round.
“I think the ball landing on that third green from my second shot was my highlight of the day because you never really know what’s going to happen when it’s in the air so it’s nice to see that come down.
“I have put myself in a great position and I'm here to win. I've been working very hard trying to get the game as good as I can and it’s nice to see the work paying off.
“It was a momentum killer at the 11th. It’s a short hole and I was only going in with a wedge but for the first time in my life I actually took the wrong club out. I hit the shot and it was only when I gave the club back to my caddie I realised I hit a 58 degree instead of a 54.
“I have never done that but I was so into the number and the shot I didn’t even look at the club and it went into the bunker. That was my only mistake so it was pretty close to a flawless round.”
Richard Bland of England was just two strokes back after he fired seven birdies for a six under par round of 66, while Mark Tullo was a shot further back on five under par after an opening 67.
