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QUINTA DA MARINHA, Portugal -- Simon Dyson of England shot a 4-under 67 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Estoril Open of Portugal.

Dyson, who won the Indonesia Open and the KLM Open in 2006 and finished third twice this season, eagled the 16th hole and also had three birdies at the par-71 Oitavos Golf Club. Scotsman Stephan Gallacher, Englishman Ross McGowan and South African Louis Oosthuizen all had 68s.

Gallacher had seven birdies on a day when European Tour officials decided not to cut the greens before the round, anticipating winds that gusted to about 30 mph would cause difficulty.

Dyson rolled in a 20-foot putt for his eagle on the 573-yard, par-5 16th. McGowan eagled the 347-yard, par-4 11th and added a pair of birdies on the back nine to overcome a bogey at No. 2.

Defending champion Paul Broadhurst had an inconsistent round of five birdies and three bogeys to finish with a 69 and was two strokes back with Nick Dougherty and Barry Lane.

Six more golfers were at 70.

After those two wins last season and two near-misses already this year, Dyson, 29, is up to 75th in the world, and finishing 2007 in the top 50 to earn himself a trip to Augusta is one of his main goals.

"I've grown up a bit I think and do things a lot better and correct," said Dyson. "I just used to have a bit too much of a jolly. I used to enjoy it a bit too much and wasn't doing the right things in the evenings.

"We'd go out and have a bit of a good time -- instead of getting an early night and watching the England (vs. Andorrs exhibition soccer) game!," he added. "At least it made me realize that my life's not that bad. My local pub team would have beaten Andorra."

The nephew of Terry Dyson, part of Tottenham's championship-winning soccer team in England in 1961, and a promising footballer himself as a teenager, the former Walker Cup player was fortunate to be among the early starters who were well into their rounds before the wind starting gusting to almost 30mph.

He had two quick birdies and then a 20-foot eagle putt on the 573-yard 16th, which downwind he reached with a drive and 5-iron.

Oosthuizen teed off only 45 minutes later and reached 4 under after 11, but played the remaining seven in 1 over to finish alongside McGowan, who despite failing to earn a Tour card at the qualifying school last November decided to turn professional rather than wait for this September's Walker Cup.

"I think my parents would have preferred me not to, but I thought it was time to move on," said McGowan, who is playing in onlyhis second European Tour event as a professional.

Gallacher was among the last to finish and a bogey 6 on his final hole saw him drop out of a share for the lead. But having started with two bogeys playing the holes in between in 6 under was a remarkable effort in the conditions.

Broadhurst, for whom victory on Sunday would make him just the fifth player in European Tour history to win a title three years in a row (after Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Tiger Woods twice), is well-placed on 2 under. And on the same mark is Barry Lane, who two years ago opened the door for Broadhurst to win his first Portugal title by taking a quintuple bogey 9 on the last hole when one ahead.

"I must have been the first to enter when I saw it was coming back here. I think I'm extra determined. It owes me," said the former Ryder Cup star.

Fellow Englishman Robert Rock started his round on Thursday with a sextuple bogey 11 - and with the wind predicted to continue there could well be more double-figure scores to come.

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