Marguery leader at club house

Raphaël Marguery (c) Agathe Séron.

Raphaël Marguery leads the way on a storm hit opening day of the 2014 Peugeot Open at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

The Frenchman from Versailles carded a six under par 65, good enough for a two shot club house lead over Spanish pair Alfredo Heredia and and Javier Colomo.

“The key today was that I focused on hitting the greens and my putting was very good. I have been playing really well these past weeks,” said Marguery and Alps Tour member since 2010, who is still waiting to claim his first win on tour.

“Compared to last year, I am taking a more strategic approach on course rather than working on the technical aspects of my swing. Playing golf is a bit like chess. I visualize the spot I want the ball to land to give me the best angle for the next shot.”

Marguery went to the turn in two under 34 with birdies at four, six and eight offset by a dropped shot at the par three ninth. His back nine included birdies at the 12th, 14th, 15th and 18th as he came home in four under 31.

The 27-year-old is battling fatigue after playing in Guadeloupe before travelling to Italy and onto this week’s tournament in Madrid. He intends taking a break at the end of June to recharge the batteries.

Heredia, the 2014 Spanish Champion, is a cousin of Jorge Parada, coach of European Ryder cup hopeful Jonas Blixt. Parada is currently at the US Open but still made some time to help his cousin.

“I sent him a video of my swing yesterday and he told me everything was o.k,” said Heredia.

“My goal is to play in the USA and I plan to go to spend August there to train.”

Colomo was delighted to finally find some form after a difficult period.

“I have finally played well after a few horrible weeks on the European and Asian Tour. I finally managed to produce a real golf round. I am in the process of getting a bit of confidence back.”

In other news, Santiago Luna, who won the ISPS Handa PGA Seniors Championship on Sunday, carded a level par round of 71.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Nino Bertasio, current leader of the Alps Tour Order of Merit, narrowly made his tee-time after struggling to get transport to the venue. With taxis in the area on strike, Bertasio had to rely on tour official Alessandro Pia, to get him to the course, making it with just 10 minutes to spare.

The play was suspended at 17:02 with half of the field still on course. Unfortunately play could not resume and players will be back on course tomorrow morning at 7:30.

From Madrid
Agathe Séron & Paul Kelly