Des Smyth , who says he "feels like a hare at a coursing event", raced clear of the chasing pack of young greyhounds with an opening 66, six under par, in the Algarve Portuguese Open at Le Meridien Penina.
At 46, Smyth is one of the elder generation of European Tour players with 25 years’ experience and over 500 tournaments under his belt, but after retiring from Dubai and missing the cut in Qatar, his season was in desperate need of a kick-start.
Smyth came charging out of thye blocks by birdieing five of the first six holes, two of which came from chip-ins. He said: "At that stage I was walking on water. "
Although he three putted the seventh, the Irishman bounced back with birdies at the 11th and 13th to open a two-shot gap over a group of six players on four under par.
He added: "Today was a real blast from the past. I think I’ve scared myself into playing well! When you’ve missed the first two cuts and you’re 46 and looking at all these young guys chasing you…I feel like a hare at a coursing event. All these young greyhounds are after me. The 66 is not out of confidence. It is out of fear!"
Two shots adrift are Retief Goosen, Fredrik Jacobsen, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Santiago Luna, Katsuyoshi Tomori and Jean Van de Velde. For Goosen it is only his second tournament since he broke his left arm skiing at the beginning of January.
A shot further back is another of the injured golfers, Sam Torrance, making his second start of the season having sorted out a slipped disc in his neck and a displaced rib, while defending champion Peter Mitchell shot a one under par 71.
