Portugal Masters 2014: Daily Leaderboard Analysis, Highlights and More
Rainy weather and one jaw-dropping performance stole the show at the 2014 edition of the Portugal Masters from Oceanico Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal.
Two tournaments removed from a dominant showing at the Ryder Cup, some of the world's best descended Thursday for four rounds of action at a course designed by golf legend Arnold Palmer.
The inaugural round was cut short, though, before fast risers such as Adrian Otaegui could finish 18 holes.
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Below, take a look at the day-to-day results, highlights and more as the European Tour Race to Dubai continues.
Day 4 Recap
Frenchman Alexander Levy was crowned 2014 Portugal Masters champion on Sunday after more heavy rain saw the already-curtailed tournament called after 36 holes.
The event at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Club had already been reduced to 54 holes after atrocious weather earlier in the week and more of the same saw the third and final round abandoned on Sunday.
As a result, Levy's 36-hole total of 124—a 63 and a 61 for 18 under par—saw him take victory by three shots from Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.
Here is the final leaderboard after some impressive golf—when the course was playable—but an ultimately much-shortened weekend's work:
| Position | Golfer | To Par |
| 1 | Alexander Levy | -18 |
| 2 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -15 |
| 3 | Felipe Aguilar | -13 |
| T4 | Richard Bland | -11 |
| T4 | Morten Orum Madsen | -11 |
| T4 | Romain Wattel | -11 |
| T7 | Chris Wood | -10 |
| T7 | Danny Willett | -10 |
| T7 | Scott Jamieson | -10 |
| T7 | Michael Hoey | -10 |
| T7 | Gregory Bourdy | -10 |
For the full clubhouse leaderboard, visit Europeantour.com. Video highlights can be found on the tour's official site, by clicking here.
Play did get underway in the third and final round on Sunday with the course playable enough for the final pairing of Levy and Colsaerts to get down the first hole—both making par—around lunch time.
However, another monster rainstorm caused play to be suspended and eventually the decision was made to abandon the day's play and call the tournament at 36 holes, per the European Tour:
Despite the odd scenario, Levy seemed delighted with his win, his second on the European Tour to add to the China Open he claimed in April, per the European Tour:
"It feels very special. If at the start of the year you had said I would win two tournaments I would say "never!" to you. It’s a very nice feeling and I’m very happy. I work hard on this game and I think I played a good game this week. I played only four shots at the weekend and I won the tournament, but the most important thing is I have the trophy in my hand.
"
Indeed, he did play some fantastic golf on the opening two days and was lucky enough to get his second round done and dusted on Friday unlike so many of his competitors.
Next up is the World Match Play Championship in England next week before The Race to Dubai reaches its final stages with The Final Series and the culmination in November.
Day 3 Recap
The second round of the 2014 Portugal Masters was completed on Saturday, as Chile's Felipe Aguilar charged into the top 10 thanks to an excellent run on the back-nine.
Nicolas Colsaerts failed to close the gap on overnight leader Alexander Levy, one of the few golfers who finished his round on Friday. With most contenders playing just three or four holes on Saturday, the clubhouse leaderboard didn't see any massive changes.
| 1 | Alexander Levy | -18 | 61 |
| 2 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -15 | 67 |
| 3 | Felipe Aguilar | -13 | 64 |
| T4 | Richard Bland | -11 | 65 |
| T4 | Morten Orum Madsen | -11 | 66 |
| T4 | Romain Wattel | -11 | 64 |
| T7 | Chris Wood | -10 | 64 |
| T7 | Danny Willett | -10 | 67 |
| T7 | Scott Jamieson | -10 | 69 |
| T7 | Michael Hoey | -10 | 67 |
For the full clubhouse leaderboard, visit Europeantour.com. Video highlights can be found on the tour's official site, by clicking here.
Colsaerts had just two holes to make up any ground on France's Levy on Saturday, and par on the eighth and ninth holes means the Belgian will enter the final round three shots out of first place.
Speaking to Europeantour.com, Colsaerts talked about the difficulties of completing a round filled with multiple weather breaks:
"It’s always difficult to follow a really low score, but I’m quite happy with the way I played on the back nine coming in.
"
I got to the golf course yesterday at 7am and left at 7.30pm, so it was a pretty long day. Luckily I’m staying on site so you have the option of going back to the room. I didn’t really do that too much yesterday though.
I’ll probably make up for yesterday and spend all day in my room. I’ll maybe practise a little bit later on and just keep loose. Most of the day will be spent nice and cosy and relaxing.
As I showed yesterday and today, if you get off rhythm a little bit and you don’t fully take advantage of the course, others will make up ground. Sunday will unfold and we will see what happens.
As has been the case throughout the event, Saturday saw more stoppages due to the weather, this time because of thunderstorms. It did make for some excellent shots of the course, however, via the Tour's official Twitter feed:
Aguilar was the biggest riser of the day thanks to a round of seven-under 64, one better than his opening round. The Chilean is now firmly in control of the third spot on the leaderboard but trails Levy by five shots, with just one round remaining.
A single bogey on the seventh was the only blemish for Aguilar on Saturday, with five pars on the back-nine and three more on the front-nine giving him one of the top scores on the day.
With the putting game clicking for Aguilar, Colsaerts and Levy can't afford to make any mistakes on the final day of the tournament.
The French leader should feel confident heading into Sunday, however. With event organisers dropping the third round, the chances for the other contenders to gain have been greatly diminished.
Levy has carded scores of 63 and 61 so far, both better than anything Aguilar has produced so far. Colsaerts' opening round of 60 was magical, but barring a meltdown from Levy, he'll need at least a similar performance to have any chance of winning.
Day 2 Recap
Dya 2 of the 2014 Portugal Masters brought even more rain, as play was suspended on several occasions on Friday. The European Tour eventually decided the tournament would be reduced to 54 holes, as shared on Twitter:
The weather didn't stop France's Alexander Levy from putting together a masterful performance, taking over the top spot on the clubhouse leaderboard from Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts heading into Saturday.
Several of the top golfers never even got the chance to start their round on Friday, meaning the clubhouse leaderboard looks far from complete:
| 1 | Alexander Levy | -18 | 61 |
| 2 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -15 | Through 16 |
| T3 | Richard Bland | -10 | Through 15 |
| T3 | Michael Hoey | -10 | Through 12 |
| T5 | Rafa Cabrera-Bello | -9 | 69 |
| T5 | Thomas Aiken | -9 | 67 |
| T5 | Morten Orum Madsen | -9 | Through 13 |
| T5 | Gregory Bourdy | -9 | Through 11 |
| T5 | Adrian Otaegui | -9 | Through 9 |
| T10 | John Hahn | -8 | Through 16 |
For the full clubhouse leaderboard, visit Europeantour.com. Video highlights can be found on the tour's official site, by clicking here.
Levy opened up a massive lead over the rest of the pack on Friday, playing a round of 10-under 61 as one of the few players to complete Round 2. The Frenchman scored 10 birdies and didn't have a single blemish on the day, despite the rough conditions.
The course too far longer than expected to dry out, but as shared by the European Tour's official Twitter feed, the rain really came down hard:
Levy couldn't find the fairway on a single one of his attempts but was perfect on his scrambles for the second day in a row, playing a perfect tournament so far.
Colsaerts and Levy both started on the back-nine, but the Belgian couldn't keep up with the high pace set by the 24-year-old. A bogey on the first hole of the front-nine knocked him further back, with two holes left to complete on Saturday. Colsaerts will resume his round going four-under for the day.
England's Richard Bland was one of the strongest risers on Friday, shooting five-under through 15 holes. Chasing Levy by eight shots, he's tied with Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey for third.
The likes of Scott Jamieson (eight-under, 10 shots back) and Felipe Aguilar (six-under, 12 shots back) have yet to start their seconds rounds, giving a somewhat distorted view of the leaderboard.
The Chilean looks unlikely to catch up to the duo of Levy and Colsaerts, however, with the tournament now being shortened to 54 holes.
Day 1 Recap
Nicolas Colsaerts not only climbed the leaderboard quickly for sole possession of first place before inclement weather halted Thursday's round, but he also almost made history in the process, shooting an 11-under-par 60.
Colsaerts started hot with a birdie on the first hole and hit three more on the front nine. On the back nine he started even better with three consecutive birdies before eagles on Nos. 15 and 17.
As Sky Sports News HQ captures, Colsaerts came oh-so-close to a historical 59:
The Belgian star himself took to Twitter to reflect on No. 18:
Here is how the leaderboard shaped up after Thursday's events:
| 1 | Nicolas Colsaerts | -11 | 60 |
| T2 | Scott Jamieson | -8 | 63 |
| T2 | Alexander Levy | -8 | 63 |
| T4 | Rafael Cabrera-Bello | -7 | 64 |
| T4 | Adrian Otaegui | -7 | Thru 14 |
| T6 | Felipe Aguilar | -6 | 65 |
| T6 | Chris Doak | -6 | 65 |
| T6 | David Lynn | -6 | 65 |
| T6 | Danny Willett | -6 | 65 |
| T6 | Victor Riu | -6 | Thur 15 |
For the full clubhouse leaderboard, visit Europeantour.com. Video highlights can be found on the tour's official site, by clicking here.
Close behind Colsaerts and tied three shots off his mark after complete rounds are Scott Jamieson and Alexander Levy. The former shot nine birdies on the day, but ended on a sour note due to a tough bogey on No. 17.
Levy shot a bogey-free card by day's end after setting himself up in a suave manner with five birdies on the front nine alone.
The aforementioned Otaegui rests four shots off the top mark but has completed just 14 holes, so a serious run at the top of the leaderboard Friday morning before the start of Round 2 is certainly a possibility. For now, he sits tied with fellow Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
Rounding out the second half of the top 10 is a host of names with a six-under-par 65, chief among them being defending champion David Lynn. The Englishman shot seven birdies to one bogey on the day to keep himself alive in his double-down attempt at the tournament.
Oliver Wilson, who beat out top players such as Rory McIlroy at Dunhill Links last week and tied for ninth at this tournament in 2010, suffered a letdown in Round 1 with a 72 after a birdie-less showing.
The biggest highlight of the day went to Jose Maria Olazabal, who nailed a hole-in-one on the par-three No. 13, although it was not enough for the 48-year-old Spaniard to escape a fate of 72 as well.
The rest of Round 1 will play out Friday morning before Colsaerts and Co. tackle the second round.
Stats and info via EuropeanTour.com unless otherwise specified.
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