Max Kennedy and Liam Nolan find themselves just above the cutline as Lars van Meijel fired a bogey-free round of 64 to hold a one-stroke lead after day one of the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos.
The two leading Irishmen in the Road to Mallorca rankings are locked together at -1 and sharing 53rd place, while Jonathan Caldwell is one further adrift and the wrong side of the provisional cutline at level-par and Dermot McElroy has two more shots to find from +2.
Nolan found himself at -3 at the turn after making four birdies and a bogey on the front side, but a bogey on the par-5 11th and a double on the 15th dropped him back to level-par. He went birdie-bogey-birdie over the final three to join Kennedy, who had a less eventful day, making three birdies and two bogeys.
Caldwell too got to -3 after the opening nine holes having started on the 10th, but four bogeys and just the one birdie on the front leave him with plenty of work to do.
Dutchman van Meijel impressed on Thursday, carding five birdies and an eagle to move one clear of five others who share second at the top of a crowded leaderboard.
Van Meijel, starting on the tenth, birdied his first two holes before adding a further gain on 18 to head out in 33 strokes. Another birdie on the first was followed by an eagle on the par five fifth before the 31-year-old closed out his round with a straightforward birdie on the ninth.
“I felt really good out there,” he said. “I holed some putts and hit some really good wedge shots too.
“I’ve got to keep doing the same stuff and try to stay aggressive. I feel a bit more focussed with not too many events left before the end of the season. I’ve definitely been a bit more disciplined with it being the end of the year.”
Van Meijel arrived at Royal Óbidos 44th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings with four events to play before the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A.
With the top 46 players advancing to the HotelPlanner Tour’s showpiece finale in November, the Dutchman is hoping to make the most of this week’s event on Portugal’s Silver Coast.
“If you drive it well around here there are a couple of really good opportunities, which I want to take advantage of,” he added.
“If you can also dial the wedges, there are a couple of good looks. Still, everything needs to be absolutely on it, and you have to keep making putts. You’re going to hit an off shot, so you must rely on your short game too.
“Hopefully there will be less wind in the morning, which I can make the most of.”
Italian Renato Paratore, Spaniard Quim Vidal, Scotsman Sam Locke, Chilean Gabriel Morgan and Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon are all one shot further back on six under par.
English duo David Horsey and Alfie Plant are joined by Italian Filippo Celli and Spaniard Sebastian Garcia on five under par.
The second round of the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos gets under way at 7:50am on Friday morning with van Meijel teeing off at 9:18am alongside England’s Frank Kennedy and France’s Sebastian Gros.
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