Valderrama action put on hold

Heavy rain and strong winds gusting to 50mph forced play in the Volvo Masters at Valderrama in southern Spain to be suspended for today.

Instead of resuming at 8.45am officials planned a 1pm start, but after an inspection of conditions at noon changed that to 4pm and then was cancelled altogether.

The second round will now get underway tomorrow.

Swede Fredrik Jacobson’s opening eight under par 64 had given him a two-stroke lead over Dane Anders Hansen, with Spaniard Carlos Rodiles two further back.

They were the only three to break 70 and four of the 57-strong field – Scots Alastair Forsyth and Andrew Coltart, England’s David Lynn and Welshman Jamie Donaldson – failed to break 80.

Wednesday’s pro-am was reduced from 18 to nine holes because of the rain and preferred lies on the fairways were used in the first round because of the conditions.

The forecast was for showers later in the day and for the wind to ease, but the chances of making up for lost time over the weekend were good with such a small field. Saturday and Sunday were both expected to be dry.