Santo Antonio da Serra, Madeira (SportsNetwork.com) – Joachim B. Hansen did
not hit a single shot on Saturday, but he remained in the lead at the
conclusion of the first round and for the second straight year the Madeira
Islands Open was shortened to 36 holes due to more lengthy delays.
When the first round failed to start on Thursday due to heavy winds, the event
was cut to 54 holes. Another delay due to wind Friday morning put the event
further behind and the first round was later suspended for the day due to
rain.
A delay of just under five hours on Saturday morning saw officials shorten the
tournament again, this time to 36 holes. Following the delay, the remainder of
the field was able to finally finish up their first rounds. A cut was then
made, with 82 players advancing.
The second and final round is scheduled to tee off at 4 a.m. ET as a shotgun
start at Santo da Serra Golf Club.
Hansen concluded his first round on Friday, shooting a 4-under 68 to take the
outright lead.
It should be a sprint to the finish as 28 players are all within three shots
of the lead, including eight tied for second and just one back.
Andrew Marshall, Adrien Saddier, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Roope Kakko, Jaakko
Makitalo, Peter Whiteford, Alessandro Tadini and Antti Ahokas all shot 3-under
69s and are in second.
Just an hour and 13 minutes after round one started up again on Saturday
morning, heavy rain halted play once again at 5:13 a.m. ET. Play did not
resume until 10:00 a.m., nearly five hours later.
Hansen finished his bogey-free first round on Friday with four birdies on one,
three, 10 and 12.
Makitalo was the only one of the players to finish with a 3-under 69 who was
able to pull even with Hansen at one point. His first birdie came on No. 1,
but Makitalo tripped to a bogey on five and gave that shot right back.
An eagle on the par-3 seventh then pushed Makitalo to 2-under for the day. He
later wrapped birdies on 12 and 14 around a bogey on 13. Another gain on 16
pulled him even with Hansen, but Makitalo fell back to 3-under with a bogey on
17. He finished up with a par at the last.
“Of course I’m happy with that,” Makitalo said. “It was not a great 3-putt on
the 17th, but I had a tough putt downwind and that can happen and after all
that, I’ll take a 69.”
Marshall had a relatively clean round with four birdies and a bogey. Saddier
also made four birdies along with an eagle on 11 and three bogeys. Gonnet
drained six gains and tripped to three bogeys.
Kakko was up and down with seven birdies and four dropped shots. Whiteford
holed five birdies and two bogeys, while Tadini made six gains and three
bogeys.
Ahokas was the last player to join the group at 3-under with five birdies and
two bogeys.
NOTES: Nobody among the top-nine players has won on the European Tour … Last
year’s first round did not finish until Sunday morning. Players were also able
to finish up the final round on Sunday along with one playoff hole, where
Daniel Brooks defeated Scott Henry … Last year’s event was shortened due to
heavy fog throughout most of the week … Like Hansen, Marshall, Gonnet and
Saddier all finished their first rounds on Friday and did not play Saturday.
