Van de Velde favourite

JEAN VAN DE VELDE celebrates 20 years as a professional this season and this week he finally gets the chance to defend a European Tour title.

In the absence of most of the circuit’s big names, away in Florida at the CA World Championship, the 40-year-old Frenchman is one of the favourites for the Madeira Islands Open.

Van de Velde’s first full Tour win came back in 1993 at the Rome Masters, but the event was never staged again.