Former winners looking for more Madeira glory
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A cluster of former Madeira Islands Open champions have returned to the island this week, including home champion in 2012 Ricardo Santos (pictured), two-time European Tour winners Bradley Dredge and Alastair Forsyth plus former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin.
The field also includes many of Portugal’s most promising young players, including Ricardo Gouveia, who won in his seventh event on the Challenge Tour last year before coming agonisingly close to earning a European Tour card at the Qualifying School Final Stage.
Scott Henry, meanwhile, returns hoping to go one better than last year, when he was beaten to the title by England’s Daniel Brooks on the first hole of a play-off.
The action starts tomorrow (thurs) at Santa da Serra GC and there’s a strong Irish contingent too with Kevin Phelan, tied 2nd in the recent Joburg Open, joined by Peter Lawrie, Ruaidhri McGee and Simon Thornton while Gareth Maybin is Northern Ireland’s sole representative.
