Club: Santo da Serra

Location: Madeira, Portugal

Date: May 10-13, 2012

European Tour Golf Betting Odds: The Madeira Island Open is a men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour, played on the Madeira Islands in Portugal. It was founded in 1993 and is often the first event of the season played in Europe, after the season has spent the northern winter in Asia, Australasia and South Africa. The tournament has one of the smallest prize funds on the tour (700,000 in 2010), and few of the tour's top players take part. It is one of three European Tour events currently staged in Portugal each year, the others being the Portuguese Open and the Portugal Masters.

The tournament will have a difficult time attracting players for a number of reasons; the Volvo Match Play is played the same week and the top 24 players in Europe will be there, not at the Madeira Islands Open. The U.S. Open is two weeks away and many players will rest and prepare for that, and finally the Players Championship on the PGA Tour precedes the tournament and the players who play in that won’t have enough time to get to Portugal.

I would compare the BPI Madeira Islands Open to a tournament on the Nationwide Tour in the U.S. It’s a great opportunity for a young gun to pick up his first win and possibly elevate his career to a new level or a chance for a grizzled veteran to resurrect their career.

It's anybody's ball game at the 2012 BPI – Madeira Islands Open in what should be an exciting Triple-A type of competition taking place May 10-13 in beautiful Portugal.

2012 Madeira Islands Open Winner - Ricardo Santos wins Madeira Islands

Ricardo Santos shot a 9-under 63 Sunday to win the Madeira Islands Open by four strokes, becoming the first Portuguese-born golfer to win on the European Tour in his home country.

He rallied from four strokes down and birdied his closing three holes to set a championship record of 22 under on the Santa da Serra course. He also set a record for lowest winning final round in the 19-year history of the event.

Sweden's Magnus Carlsson shot a 67 and was runner-up. Denmark's Andreas Harto finished third, five strokes behind Santos.

Santos graduated from the Challenge Tour to the main tour this year. With this victory, he earned a one-year tour exemption and an entry spot at the upcoming PGA Championship at Wentworth.

2011 Madeira Islands Open Results - Hoey earns second win in Portugal

Michael Hoey managed a one-under 71 Sunday, but it was enough to collect a two-stroke win at the Madeira Islands Open.

Hoey finished his second European Tour win at 10-under-par 278.

Jamie Elson shared the 54-hole lead with Hoey, but stumbled to a one-over 73 in the final round. He shared second place with Chris Gane (71) at minus-eight at Porto Santo Golfe Club.

Federico Colombo fired a five-under 67 to jump into a tie for fourth at minus- six. He was joined there by Jose-Filipe Lima (68) and Lloyd Saltman (70).

Hoey parred the first seven holes before rolling in a birdie effort on the eighth to get to minus-10. He parred the next four holes before dropping a stroke on the 13th.

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