Paul McGinley made a solid start in his "all or nothing" bid to qualify for the Seve Ballesteros Trophy in the Madeira Island Open. The 33-year-old Irishman fired a first-round 70, two under par, at Santo da Serra to lie four shots off the pace set by Sweden's Niclas Fasth who carded a 66.
New Zealand's Elliot Boult, France's Nicolas Marin and Swede Henrik Stenson shared second place on four under par on an unfamiliar-looking leaderboard.
McGinley needs a top three finish this week to overtake Wales' Phil Price in the race to qualify for the Britain and Ireland team in the Ballesteros Trophy at Sunningdale next month.
And with putting made difficult on the patchy greens - caused by diseased grass over the winter - McGinley was quietly satisfied with his opening day's work.
"Seventy is a good score," said the Dubliner who won the World Cup of Golf for Ireland with Padraig Harrington in 1997. "I'm pleased with that. I played very steady, hit a lot of greens and fairways without being spectacular.
McGinley was playing with Ballesteros, who will be playing captain of the European team from April 14th-16th, but the Spaniard endured another frustrating day.
The 42-year-old, without a win since 1995, struggled to a four-over-par 76 with just one birdie on his card and said ruefully: "It was a very pleasant day to play golf but I just didn't play well."
