Damien McGrane, picutred in Spain earlier this season, got off to a positive start in Madeira. Picture by Eoin Clarke www.golffile.ieDamien McGrane prpdocued one of his trademark scrambling perforrmances to open with a one under 71 in the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI.

As Lloyd Saltman equalled the best round of his professional career with a scorching eight under par 64 moving him two shots clear at the top, the Kells man had three twos on his card to finish the day tied for 24th.

McGrane got up and down four times out of six en route to carding three birdies - all of them at Santo da Serra’s par threes - and two bogeys.

The putter was cold for him when he hit greens in regulation but he was still able to keep his errors to a minimum and give himself a chance of moving away from the “relegation zone” in the Race to Dubai with a raft of big money events to come.

As David Higgins struggled to a three over 75, hitting just nine greens and home professional Dara Ford had a 76 featuring four birdies as well as four birdies and two double bogeys, Saltman set the early pace and was never headed.

The Scotsman, a former World Amateur Number One and two-time Walker Cup player, was the first man off on the first tee and the early bird certainly caught the worm at the stunning Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra.

Despite swirling winds at the Madeira venue, which sits 700 metres above sea level, the 27 year old made the perfect start with a birdie at the first before three more in a row, from the third hole, and another at the ninth took him to the turn in five under.

The Edinburgh man, who was a picture of calmness throughout his opening round at the Madeira venue, gained another shot at the 11th before mistakenly hitting the wrong wedge into the green at the 12th and subsequently falling to his first bogey of the day.

He bounced straight back in superb fashion, however, as a birdie at the 13th cancelled out his only blemish of the day, before two more birdies on the way home earned him an early lead, which he maintained for the remainder of the day.

“I’m very pleased with my round,” said Saltman, who carded a 64 in the second round of the 2012 Nordea Masters. “It wasn’t easy out there today, with the wind swirling and getting very strong at certain points.

“I just played really well tee to green and made the putts I needed to make and my short game was really good as well so I can’t really pick any faults from that round.

“I have put myself in a great position and I’m here to win. I’ve been working very hard trying to get my game as good as I can and it’s nice to see the work paying off.

Lloyd Saltman was at his best on the opening day in Madeira. Picture ©Getty Images“It was a momentum killer at the 11th. It’s a short hole and I was only going in with a wedge but for the first time in my life I actually took the wrong club out. I hit the shot and it was only when I gave the club back to my caddie I realised I hit a 58 degree instead of a 54.

“I have never done that but I was so into the yardage and the shot, I didn’t even look at the club and it went into the bunker. That was my only mistake so it was pretty close to a flawless round.”

Richard Bland of England was two strokes back after he fired seven birdies for a six under par round of 66, while Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren, Scotsman Craig Lee and Mark Tullo of Chile were a shot further back in tied third, after five under par rounds of 67.

Scores:

64 L Saltman (Sco) ,

66 R Bland (Eng) ,

67 M Tullo (Chi) , J Lagergren (Swe) , C Lee (Sco) ,

68 R McGowan  (Eng) ,

69 J Sandelin (Swe) , M Glauert (Ger) ,

70 T Levet (Fra) , J Parry (Eng) , G Cambis  (Fra) , A Perrino  (Ita) , D Dixon (Eng) , P Whiteford (Sco) , S Hansen (Den) , C Lloyd (Eng) , C Brazillier  (Fra) , K Sihwan (Kor) , V Riu  (Fra) , M Lundberg (Swe) , J Dantorp (Swe) , P Edberg (Swe) , R Kakko  (Fin) ,

71 N Henriques  (Por) , T Hatton (Eng) , A Gee  (Eng) , A Forsyth (Sco) , S Tiley (Eng) , J Ruth  (Eng) , D McGrane (Irl) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , A Tadini (Ita) , N Quintarelli (Ita) , P Hedblom (Swe) , T Haylock  (Eng) , C Del Moral (Esp) , C Paisley  (Eng) , M Zions (Aus) ,

72 S Little (Eng) , S Arnold  (Aus) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , M Korhonen (Fin) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , P Archer (Eng) , D Kemmer (USA) , J Elson  (Eng) , P Uihlein  (USA) , R Derksen (Ned) , J Walters (RSA) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , O Floren  (Swe) , J Howarth (Eng) , D Im (USA) , B Koepka  (USA) , R Karlberg  (Swe) , M Madsen  (Den) , M Brier (Aut) , J Carlota (am) (Por) ,

73 A Rosado  (Por) , S Henry  (Sco) , A Pavan (Ita) , B Parker  (Eng) , K Eriksson (Swe) , J Campillo (Esp) , L Goddard  (Eng) , A Domingo (Esp) , N Ravano (Ita) , D Brooks (Eng) , M Sell  (Eng) , D Gaunt (Aus) , C Macaulay  (Sco) , H Bacher (Aut) , M Lampert (Ger) , G Boyd  (Eng) , R Quiros  (Esp) , J Lima  (Por) , R Russell (Sco) , J Barnes (Eng) , C Doak (Sco) , G Storm  (Eng) , R Busher (am) (Eng) , G Pinto (am) (Por) ,

74 S Dodd (Wal) , O Bekker (RSA) , A Sullivan (Eng) , T Van Der Walt (RSA) , A Levy (Fra) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , R Rock (Eng) , T Cruz  (Por) , E Goya (Arg) , M Nixon (Eng) , F Calmels  (Fra) , S Benson (Eng) , T Lewis (Eng) , F McGuirk  (Eng) , C Kim (USA) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , F Colombo (Ita) , R Davies (Wal) , S Hutsby  (Eng) ,

75 N Fasth (Swe) , A Marshall (Eng) , P Erofejeff (Fin) , M Crespi  (Ita) , L Jensen (Den) , D Griffiths  (Eng) , T Pilkadaris (Aus) , J Hansen  (Den) , J Lucquin (Fra) , R McEvoy  (Eng) , J Glennemo (Swe) , O Wilson (Eng) , D Higgins (Irl) , A Velasco (Esp) , S Dyson  (Eng) ,

76 A Byeong-Hun (Kor) , D Ford (Irl) , T Murray (Eng) , C Suneson (Esp) , S O’Hara  (Sco) , B Dredge (Wal) , M Southgate  (Eng) , A Hartø  (Den) , R Santos  (Por) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) ,

77 C Ford (Eng) , S Wakefield (Eng) , J Timmis (Eng) , F Praegant (Aut) , H Santos  (Por) , D Vancsik (Arg) , G Houston (Wal) , S Walker (Eng) , P Dwyer (Eng) , B Åkesson (Swe) , E Pepperell (Eng) , S Kapur (Ind) ,

78 G Murray  (Sco) , A McArthur  (Sco) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , J Senior (Eng) , J McLeary  (Sco) , W Besseling  (Ned) , P Martin Benavides (Esp) ,

79 M Verardo (Ita) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) ,

80 G Stal  (Fra) , E De La Riva  (Esp) ,

81 R Saxton (Ned) , Å Nilsson (Swe) ,

82 S Luna (Esp) ,

83 K Ferrie (Eng) ,

** J Garcia Del Moral (Esp)