The Dutchman impressed on Thursday, carding five birdies and an eagle to move one clear of five others who share second at the top of a crowded leaderboard.
Van Meijel, starting on the tenth, birdied his first two holes before adding a further gain on 18 to head out in 33 strokes. Another birdie on the first was followed by an eagle on the par five fifth before the 31-year-old closed out his round with a straightforward birdie on the ninth.
“I felt really good out there,” he said. “I holed some putts and hit some really good wedge shots too.
“I’ve got to keep doing the same stuff and try to stay aggressive. I feel a bit more focused with not too many events left before the end of the season. I’ve definitely been a bit more disciplined with it being the end of the year.”
Van Meijel arrived at Royal Óbidos 44th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings with four events to play before the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A.
With the top 46 players advancing to the HotelPlanner Tour’s showpiece finale in November, the Dutchman is hoping to make the most of this week’s event on Portugal’s Silver Coast.
“If you drive it well around here there are a couple of really good opportunities, which I want to take advantage of,” he added.
“If you can also dial the wedges, there are a couple of good looks. Still, everything needs to be absolutely on it, and you have to keep making putts. You’re going to hit an off shot, so you must rely on your short game too.
“Hopefully there will be less wind in the morning, which I can make the most of.”
Italian Renato Paratore, Spaniard Quim Vidal, Scotsman Sam Locke, Chilean Gabriel Morgan and Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon are all one shot further back on six under par.
English duo David Horsey and Alfie Plant are joined by Italian Filippo Celli and Spaniard Sebastian Garcia on five under par.
The second round of the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos gets under way at 7:50am on Friday morning with van Meijel teeing off at 9:18am alongside England’s Frank Kennedy and France’s Sebastian Gros.
About the HotelPlanner Tour
The HotelPlanner Tour, formerly the Challenge Tour, had its first official season in 1989, and has developed into a proven training ground, where the champions-in-waiting compete across the globe for a place on the DP World Tour.
Many players who have progressed from the HotelPlanner Tour have gone on to become Major Champions – including Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick and Brooks Koepka – and Ryder Cup stars, such as Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Nicolai Højgaard and Tyrrell Hatton.
Using its vast international schedule and relationships with golf federations and PGAs, the HotelPlanner Tour is widely accessible to professionals from across the globe, giving players from developing golfing nations the opportunity to test their skill amongst some of the most talented up and coming stars in world golf.
HotelPlanner, a leading travel technology company, has been the title partner of the HotelPlanner Tour since the start of the 2025 season.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
