Magical, short-game touches which once shaped a successful tournament career, reappeared for Des Smyth in a sparkling, six-under-par 66 in changeable, blustery conditions at Penina yesterday. It gave the 46-year-old an improbable, two-stroke lead in the first-round of the £400,000 Algarve Portuguese Open, his 502nd European Tour event.

With preferred lies in operation because of the rough condition of the fairways, Smyth's effort did not officially match the course record. But he couldn't have cared less. "I'm really enjoying myself," he enthused. "I love the special buzz of shooting good rounds of golf."

No doubt his Irish colleagues would have empathised with that view. But while John McHenry effectively matched Smyth's putting exploits, it was in desperate scrambling on the way to a 73. Still, 25 putts are welcome at any time.

For his part, Padraig Harrington was thoroughly frustrated by tricky greens, where 34 putts led to a 74. Eamonn Darcy was similarly afflicted on the way to a 76, though his trouble started early, with a triple-bogey six at the short 13th, his fourth, where he was in trees and water.

Philip Walton had his first birdie of the round at the 16th to be two over at that stage. But wayward tee-shots at the short 16th and the difficult 17th led to successive bogeys and a round of 76.

Though Antonio Garrido would give him quite a few years among the old-stagers in action here, Smyth was under no illusion about the challenge of keeping pace. "I think I scared myself into playing well," he said with a grin. "Strange things happen when you're my age and you've missed the first two cuts of the season."

He explained: "I feel like a hare in a coursing event, trying to escape all these young greyhounds after me, but knowing that there's no way out until I'm 50. Today's 66 was born out of fear, not confidence. I have to get my season underway."

Meanwhile, the day's play became something of an old pal's reunion with Sam Torrance, the winner here in 1982, shooting a 69 which included an eagle three at the fifth. "That's Sam," said Smyth admiringly. "Himself and Mark James are an example to the rest of us forty-somethings."

Given his determination to continue at this level until he qualifies for senior status, Smyth's concern was entirely understandable. He was able to retain exempt status last year only through the top-40 in career earnings and ended the season 114th in the Order of Merit, two places inside the limit.

He arrived here with two putters, a long and a short one and the treacherous pace of the greens prompted him to opt for the broom-handle. It was an inspired choice, given that he used it only 27 times, three of which were actually off the putting surface. But he also chipped into the hole - twice.

Indeed, he was entitled to imagine something special in store when a chip from two yards right of the first green found the target for an opening birdie. He also birdied the second, this time with a 15-foot putt and had further birdies at the fourth (10-footer) and long fifth, where he was on in two.

Then came another chip-in, from off the front of the short sixth, to leave him five under par at that stage and with the feeling "I'm now walking on water." Reality returned at the next, which he three-putted from 30 feet, but it was to be his only bogey of the round.

After an outward 31 - four under par - he reached the 538-yard 11th with a five-wood second shot to get back on the birdie trail. And his seventh of the round came at the 215-yard 13th where he was over the flag with a five wood before sinking a treacherous, 20-foot downhill putt.

One of his best shots, however, was in setting up a relatively humble par. That was at the long 18th where he bunkered a three-wood second, and had to play a brilliant, 50-yard recovery onto the green. "Yes, it was a blast from the past," he grinned.

Looking back on that renowned short-game, one remembers its impact during a breathtaking, three-week period in 1980, when he had successive victories in the Newcastle Brown "900", the Irish Dunlop Tournament and the Greater Manchester Open. Especially memorable was a stunning, 27-under-par aggregate in the Dunlop event at Headfort, where he as no fewer than 16 strokes clear of second-placed Peter Townsend.

Torrance put the quality of Smyth's effort into perspective when he said: "The scoring won't be anything like last year." That was when Peter Mitchell blitzed the then par-73 stretch with a winning aggregate of 274 - 18 under par.

"I'll take 69 on each of the next three days and wait for the prize-giving," added the Scot. "Apart from the fact that the 17th is now reduced to a par four, the course overall is playing a lot longer."

The challenging group on 68 includes Miguel Angel Jimenez, the only competitor here from last week's Andersen Consulting Matchplay at La Costa.