EUROPEAN TOUR'S 1,500th EVENT HAS YET TO GET OUT OF THE BLOCKS

START OF MADEIRA OPEN FOGGED OFF
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Play was abandoned in the opening day of the Madeira Islands Open, the European Tour’s 1,500th event, after heavy fog fell on the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra early in the morning and remained for the whole day. 
After a sunny pro-am day at the picturesque island venue, which is over 700m above sea level, fog came in today from the Atlantic  before the first round could start and it remained all afternoon. 
As a result, tournament officials were forced to suspend the beginning of The European Tour’s 1,500th event at 5pm local time. 
Round one will now begin on Friday, with tee times unchanged. 
Key Quotes
 José Maria Zamora, The European Tour's Tournament Director: “We have abandoned play today because five of the holes have been unplayable all day due to the fog. 
“Basically, 13 holes of the holes have been playable for much of the day but five of the holes higher up the mountain – one, nine, ten, 11 and 18 – have had no visibility all day. 
"The decision to call it at 5pm was taken because the players have been sitting in the clubhouse for more than ten hours and it looked like the fog was going to remain for the rest of the day. 
"There is a point where the guys get tired so it’s best that they get back to their hotels and start afresh tomorrow.”