Reigning champion Pablo Martin opened the defence of his Portuguese Open title with a course record 63 on Thursday.
Spaniard looking to repeat his amateur success of last year
Reigning champion Pablo Martin opened the defence of his Portuguese Open title with a course record 63 on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Spaniard, who became the first amateur ever to win a European Tour event last year, shares the lead at eight under par with France's Gregory Bourdy.
Having not broken 70 in six European Tour events this season, Martin admits he feels at home on the Oitavos Dunes course.
"It's nice nice to start the tournament this way," Martin told
Sky Sports 1after grabbing his eighth birdie with a superlative seven-iron to 18 inches on the 474-yard last.
"I like this place. I missed a couple of par five fairways with the driver, but I hit it well today and didn't make too many mistakes and that's probably the key.
"There is no extra pressure defending the title. I feel confident with my game, but it doesn't matter if I've won before I've still got to win it again."
Mixed fortunes
Bourdy had eight birdies in a magical 11-hole stretch from the sixth to join the Spaniard at the top of the leaderboard.
The course record of 64 had been equalled earlier in the day by Martin's compatriots Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Jose Manuel Lara. And Sweden's Michael Jonzon is also with them in a share of third.
Darren Clarke had looked like being the story of the day after taking just 30 strokes on the front nine.
He also added a 25-foot eagle putt on the 16th to four earlier birdies, but in the end the Ulsterman was forced to settle for a 68 after three-putting three times and also driving into the trees at the sixth.
Instead, it was England's Simon Khan, France's Francois Delamontagne, Scotland's Alastair Forsyth and South Africans James Kamte and Charl Schwartzel who made the least mistakes of the chasing pack and are tied in joint sixth on six under par.
