The first round was delayed first by vandalised damage to four greens overnight and then by a further three and a half hours lost because of the wet weather, but Dyson coped well with the conditions and the delays to continue his Dutch odyssey.

 

His two previous victories in the event came at Kennemer in 2006 and 2009, both in play-offs, and with an Irish Open title in the bag already this season the Englishman is hoping to make this a year to remember.

 

He is currently tenth on The Race to Dubai and added: "My best finish is eighth and I would love to beat that."

 

Siem, without a top-ten finish on The European Tour for over a year, still has work to do to keep his card, currently lying 104th in The Race to Dubai. He, like Dyson, eagled the long 12th as they moved one ahead of Robert Dinwiddie, who reached six under before running up two late bogeys in the worst of the conditions.

 

Defending champion Martin Kaymer, runner-up to Thomas Björn in Switzerland on Sunday, looked completely out of sorts as he started with a four over 74.

 

The delays meant that tournament favourites Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy did not even start their first rounds until after 5.30pm and therefore had no hope of completing their opening rounds before nightfall.

 

“My putter was really, really going well the first 15 holes, and 16, 17, 18, didn't feel that good anymore,” said Siem – who had three holes remaining when the course flooded. “I’m really happy that I made another birdie after the break.”

 

Westwood bogeyed the fifth and sixth after missing the green both times, but birdied the next two to return to level par before play was called off for the day. McIlroy also had a sticky start, three-putting the third and remaining one over after eight.

 

Earlier, Thomas Levet made a successful return from breaking his leg jumping in a lake to celebrate his Alstom Open de France victory two months ago.

 

A chip-in birdie on the 18th helped Levet to a one under 69, while Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts shot 70 in his first event since injuring his elbow coming off a scooter just before The Open Championship.

 

When bad light brought an end to the first day’s play at 7.55pm, 78 players were still on the course, all of whom will have to come back at 8.15am on Friday morning to complete their first round before embarking on round two. The 78 players who did finish their first round on Thursday, will not begin their second round until later on Friday afternoon.