Madeira Open postponed

The European Tour will look to stage the Madeira Islands Open later in the year after it was cancelled due to bad weather yesterday.

The tournament had already been reduced to 36 holes for the second year in succession, but torrential rain meant no play was possible in the second and final round at Santo da Serra.

Winds gusting up to 47 miles per hour meant no play had been possible on Thursday, while further strong winds on Friday caused a delay of almost two hours before rain ended play early.

Half of the field had yet to complete their rounds when play was abandoned for the day at 6pm and there was further disruption on Saturday with flooded greens.

With yet more bad weather forecast for yesterday, the decision was taken to make it a 36-hole event, with the top 65 and ties due to play the final round in a shotgun start at 8am.

Denmark’s JB Hansen held the clubhouse lead on four under par, one shot ahead of a group of eight players including England’s Andrew Marshall and Scotland’s Peter Whiteford.