SSP Chawrasia at Madeira Islands

Edited by Anand Datla

March 18, 2015: SSP Chawrasia will be the lone Indian at the Madeira Islands Open in Portugal. Ricardo Gouveia is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Ricardo Santos by claiming a home victory at this week’s European Tour event, and the promising young Portuguese player is certainly in winning form.

The 23 year old begins his season on home soil this week, fresh from a 2014 season in which he turned professional after a glittering amateur career, won a Challenge Tour event on his seventh start in the paid ranks and almost earned a European Tour card at Qualifying School.

Not only that, but Gouveia has begun the year with a bang, winning twice in mini-tour events during the winter.

The EMC Golf Challenge Open 2014 champion, who also claimed a win at Qualifying School Second Stage before missing out on European Tour promotion by just one shot, is understandably feeling confident heading into this week.

“I’ve been playing really well,” said the former University of Central Florida student. “I’ve had a win already on the Algarve Pro Tour and I won again two weeks ago on the Portuguese Pro Tour so my game feels really good and I’m really looking forward to this week and playing here in Madeira.

“That win last year definitely gave me confidence. I feel a lot more comfortable out here now and the win made a huge difference not only on my game, but also on my mind set coming out to every event.

“It was a bit late in the season last year for the win to have a real effect on my Rankings but I only started playing as a pro in July so to win in my seventh start gave me a lot of confidence for this year.

“It was just a learning process for me last year and I wasn’t expecting a win so early in my professional career. It’s completely different to the amateur game. But it came at the right time for me and then I almost made it through Qualifying School but unfortunately I lost by one shot.

“But I’m looking forward to getting better this year and hopefully making it onto The European Tour for next year.”

The Vilamoura player is delighted that he is starting his season on Portuguese soil and he is looking forward to playing in front of the home crowds.

“I think it will be a good advantage this week to have the home crowds,” he said. “I’ve played here before and it’s a tricky course but it’s good to start my season in Portugal.

“I played on the other island before in this tournament, I was still a young amateur and missed the cut, but this is my first time playing this event on this course.

“I know the course though and I’ve been talking to a few guys who played here in previous years to understand what I need to practice to get my game in shape for this week.

“It’s not a very long course and I think there are a lot of eight irons and in into the greens. The wind is going to play a big part and hopefully the rain won’t have a big effect on the tournament but I think I have all the shots down for this week and hopefully I can get a good result.

“It would be amazing to win here but I’m not thinking about that, I’m just going to play my game and focus on each day and see where it takes me at the end of the week.”

Gouveia is joined by a host of Portuguese stars including the 2012 champion Santos and his Hambric Sports stablemate Pedro Figueiredo.

Scott Henry, meanwhile, returns hoping to go one better than last year, when he was beaten in a play-off by Englishman Daniel Brooks after the tournament was cut to 36 holes due to numerous weather delays and a suspension in play due to the unfortunate death of caddie Iain McGregor.

Black ribbons will be made available to all players throughout the week in honour of McGregor, while there will be a minute’s silence on Sunday at noon.