Olivier David led the French assault on the Madeira Island Open leaderboard with a flawless six under par 66 at the spectacular Santo de Serra course.
David, playing only his fourth European Tour event as a professional, was the best of three French players occupying positions in the top three at the end of the first round after firing four birdies and an eagle to lead by two strokes.
The 24 year old Challenge Tour player leads compatriot Benoit Teilleria with another Frenchman, Ilya Goroneskoul, among the group of four players a further shot back on three under par.
Also in the group on 69 is the defending champion Des Smyth, who last year made history when he became the oldest winner on The European Tour at the age of 48 and 34 days. Smyth’s 69 included two three putts and a miss from within five feet but six birdies kept him among the leaders
David and Goroneskoul are among a group of young players who receive assistance from the French Federation. The group also includes Gregory Havret, whose victory in the Atlanet Italian Open last season, along with that of Thomas Levet in the Victor Chandler British Masters, has helped inspire all the French players to reach new heights.
Starting at the tenth, with a testing wind swirling round the mountaintop, David saved his par on his opening hole with a miraculous up and down before birdieing the next two holes. Six straight pars gave him an outward half of 34 but it was on his back nine that he pulled clear of the field.
Turning for home, David almost holed his pitch to the first, the ball just pulling up short after spinning towards the hole. A fourth birdie of the round was converted on the par five third hole when David recovered from the bunker through the back of the green but the highlight of the round was undoubtedly the eagle three on the 532 yard seventh hole.
After driving in the semi-rough on the left, David hit a perfectly executed five wood to the heart of the green and he duly rolled in the 40 foot putt to move to six under par.
“Today everything came together,” he said. “This is my best round on The European Tour and I enjoyed it.”
After two rounds of 68 over the weekend in Qatar, Teilleria completed his third successive four under par 68 despite a double bogey on the sixth hole which cancelled out his earlier birdies on the first and third. But Teilleria took advantage of the easier conditions later in the day as the testing wind eased to pick up four birdies in a back nine of 32 to occupy second place.
Like David, Goroneskoul spent the winter training with the rest of the Federation group in Morocco and the south of France and the practice seems to have paid off. It might not have been the best of starts for the 26 year old as he dropped two shots in the first four holes but after birdies at the 16th and 18th, his seventh and ninth holes, he found his range. Another birdie followed on the second and then he shot up the leaderboard with a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth.
“It’s great to see David up there,” said Goroneskoul. “There is a lot of friendship among the French players and that helps. I hope it is going to be a good year for us. This is a good start.”
Smyth used all his many years of experience to plot his way round the course to record a 69.
“I played very well today,” he said. “I had a couple of three putts on the front nine and missed a very short putt on the tenth. But when you add those three shots together I am very happy with the 69.
“The wind changes the course completely. You have got very difficult shots with cross winds and there are ravines and all sorts of things to carry. You have got to get it right. There are a lot of greens that are quite small. It has the usual difficulties of wind and on this course it can be particularly tricky. The putting is the most difficult because the greens are fast and you are being buffeted around on the greens. That will be reflected in the overall scoring."
Also on three under par is Germany’s Wolfgang Huget and Spain’s Santiago Luna.
At one stage the name of Seve Ballesteros occupied pole position at the top of the leaderboard after the Spaniard birdied three out of four holes from the third. The birdies dried up after that but there was only one dropped shot, ironically from his best drive of the day on the tenth.
After finding the middle of the fairway, one of only four he hit all day, Ballesteros was in two minds as to how to play his approach and ended up coming up short with a soft nine iron. A poor chip and two putts gave him his only bogey in a round of 70.
“Perhaps it is because I am not that used to hitting from the middle of the fairway,” said Ballesteros with a wry smile.
