England's Van Phillips may start to contemplate a Ryder Cup debut after continuing his fine form in the £350,000 Madeira Island Open.

The former Walker Cup player from Maidenhead has already won his first European Tour title this season, the Algarve Open at the start of the month.

He found himself at the top of the leaderboard again when fog brought an early end to play on the Santo da Serra course perched 2,300 feet above sea level, with almost half the field yet to complete their rounds.

Phillips weathered one of a number of torrential downpours which forced a 95-minute stoppage to fire an opening 68 - four under par - and a share of the lead with Scotland's Ross Drummond and Christopher Hanell of Sweden.

And the confident 26-year-old saw no reason why he couldn't continue his form long enough to qualify for Europe's 12-man team to face America in Boston in September.

"It's everyone's ambition to play in the Ryder Cup and it's not impossible for me if I win again or finish high in the big ones," Phillips said.

"From the second week in May there are some good weeks ahead with the Benson and Hedges, Deutsche Bank and Volvo PGA championships (with prize money of more than £4 million) and you have to capitalise on it.

"There is definitely a period of change in the Ryder Cup. Maybe some of the established guys are not as ambitious and are dropping down, while the younger guys are going for it."

Justin Rose produced another display out of the bottom drawer, the 18-year-old finishing with a four-over 76.

Rose, trying to make his first cut as a professional in 16 attempts, was one under after 12 holes but, hindered by the bad weather, dropped five shots in his last six holes and faces an uphill battle to make the last two rounds.