Vilamoura, Portugal (SportsNetwork.com) - Nicolas Colsaerts fired an 11-under 60 on Thursday and grabbed a 3-stroke lead with the opening round of the Portugal Masters suspended by rain.
Colsaerts had a putt for the first official 59 in European Tour history, but his birdie effort on the 18th at Oceanico Victoria Golf Club slid by the left edge.
Scott Jamieson and Alexander Levy both shot 8-under 63 and are tied for second place. Rafael Cabrera-Bello is one stroke back at minus-7. He was joined there by Adrian Otaegui, who finished 14 holes before the heavy rain came.
There was off-and-on rain throughout the round, but a heavy downpour flooded the course late in the afternoon and play was called for the day.
Defending champion David Lynn is one of four players that shot 6-under 65 on Thursday. Lynn shares sixth place with Chris Doak, Danny Willett and Felipe Aguilar. Victor Riu was 6-under through 15 holes when play was halted.
Colsaerts opened with a birdie at the first. After a pair of pars, he dropped in back-to-back birdie efforts on Nos. 4 and 5. Another birdie at the ninth moved Colsaerts to minus-4.
The Belgian continued his strong play around the turn as he birdied three in a row from the 10th to jump within one of the lead at minus-7.
Colsaerts climbed into the lead with an eagle on the short par-4 15th. At the par-5 17th, he dropped his second shot within six feet of the hole and converted that putt for another eagle.
"When I made eagle on 15, I knew then that if I birdied the last three, that would have been 59," Colsaerts stated. "So I parred 16 and then walking down the fairway on 17, I said to my caddie after I hit a good drive, 'It's 59 or nothing.'"
Standing at 11-under, Colsaerts had a chance to shoot 59 with a birdie on the 18th. His second shot stopped 18 feet from the hole. However, his birdie putt narrowly missed on the left edge.
"I thought it was going to be slightly left to right at the end and it kind of went straight and basically just left it hanging. Too bad, I thought it was a pretty good effort," said Colsaerts.
Jamieson started on the back nine and flew up the leaderboard with five birdies in a 6-hole span from the 11th. He faltered to a bogey on the 17th en route to making the turn at minus-4.
The Scotsman atoned for that mistake with a birdie on the second. He also birdied the fourth to get to 6-under. Jamieson birdied the eighth and ninth, his final two holes, to shoot 63.
"I feel like I've been playing really well for the last three months," Jamieson admitted. "I had a few top 10s a couple of months back, and hopefully this will be the week that I can capitalize on it because I feel tee to green everything's been very good."
Levy set the pace for Colsaerts in the afternoon wave. Levy, who was one group ahead of Colsaerts, birdied five of the first seven holes to soar up the leaderboard.
Around the turn, Levy converted back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12. He birdied the 14th to join Jamieson at minus-8. Levy closed with four pars in a row to end there.
NOTES: Colsaerts' 60 was the 18th in European Tour history ... Jose Maria Olazabal had a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th ... Winning European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley opened with a bogey-free, 4-under 67.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox