Coltart finds form in Madeira

A rare albatross gave Scotland’s Andrew Coltart a chance to make an equally rare halfway cut in the Madeira Island Open today.

Starting from the 10th, Coltart birdied his opening hole then fired an albatross two on the 11th – the second on the European Tour this season – to lie four under par for just two holes.

The former Ryder Cup player holed out with a six iron from 226 yards on the 572-yard par five, taking advantage of the steep downhill hole and altitude of the Santo da Serra course 2,300 feet above sea level.

Unsurprisingly Coltart was unable to maintain such an electrifying start and bogeyed the 13th before a birdie on the 17th took him out in 32.

Another bogey followed on the second but Coltart hit straight back with a birdie on the par-five third to remain four under with three holes to play.

It was a marked contrast to the Scot’s form so far in 2005, which has seen him fail to play more than two rounds in any of his six events after ending last season with five missed cuts in a row. The 34-year-old is also yet to break 70 this year.

Coltart finished 143rd on the Order of Merit last season without a single top-10 finish and only retained his playing rights due to his position on the tour’s career money list.

After joking yesterday about coming prepared for the bad weather which traditionally plagues this event, Coltart and the rest of the early starters were taking advantage of perfect playing conditions.

Holland’s Robert-Jan Derksen, a surprise winner of the Dubai Desert Classic in 2003, shared the lead on six under par after 15 holes with England’s John Bickerton and Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz.

Bickerton, whose second place here in 2001 is one of five runner-up finishes in his career, went to the turn in 33 and picked up three more birdies in four holes from the first.

Coltart was among an ever-expanding group on four under which included Austria’s Markus Brier, the first-round leader in Portugal last week.

Brier had picked up four birdies but the highlight of his round was a hole in one on the fourth where he holed a six iron from 202 yards.