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High winds cancel play in Portugal, blow ball into hole

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Updated: 12:40 p.m. ET

Opening-round play never got underway on Thursday at the Madeira Islands Open, thanks to high winds.

How bad was it at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serr in Santo da Serra, Portugal? European Tour officials posted this video on Instagram in which a stationary ball is blown 3 feet into a hole:

The wind just holed this putt at the #MadeiraIslandsOpen to take the outright lead at the weather affected tournament. A video posted by European Tour (@europeantour) on Mar 19, 2015 at 4:44am PDT

Wind gusts reached 47 mph and were steadily above 35 mph, according to a European Tour release. The event has been reduced to 54 holes, with Round 1 slated for Friday.