Swedish star Christian Nilsson made a blistering start in the Portuguese Open to go to the top of the leaderboard.

Nilsson began with four successive birdies from the 10th before settling for a par at the 14th. He then picked up another shot at the next hole to move to five under.

It was a superb display by Nilsson, who finished tied 45th at the Madeira Open after missing the cut in his two previous tournaments, the TCL Classic and the Indonesian Open.

He was a shot clear of five-time European Tour winner Jarmo Sandelin and David Griffiths.

Beginning at the 10th hole, Sandelin went to the turn in 34, three under. He chalked up birdies at the 11th, 13th and 18th to show the kind of form he displayed in the previous tournament in Madeira.

Sandelin was in contention until the final day after a barren run, eventually finishing tied seventh. He ended the tournament six shots adrift of the winner Jean van de Velde, who will be out later today.

Sandelin then got a regulation four at the start of his homeward stretch to continue his blemish-free round. He moved to four under with a birdie at the second.

Griffiths picked up four birdies in his first seven holes in a splendid start. He was continuing were he left off in Madeira where he tied for seventh place.

Broadhurst was a shot further back at three under along with Rafael Gomez and Toni Karjalainen.

There is a six strong Irish contingent with Stephen Browne, David Higgins, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Gary Murphy and Michael Hoey teeing off after lunch.