Golf-Bjorn helps banish 2003 memories with early lead

SANDWICH, England, July 14 (Reuters) - Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, cruelly denied his first major win when the British Open was last held at Royal St George’s, went some

 way to banishing the demons of his late 2003 collapse by snatching the early lead in Thursday’s first round.

The 40-year-old, handed a last-gasp place in the 140th edition of the oldest major championship in golf when Fiji’s Vijay Singh pulled out on Monday, made light of windy conditions on the Kent coast to fire a five-under-par 65.

“Today was a massive step in the right direction for me because mentally I was very strong,” Bjorn told reporters. “I stayed with it all the way round the course—sometimes that’s a problem for me.

“One thing I’ve been struggling with of late is to get off to a decent start. That also happened today so it was a good day in a lot of ways.”

While Bjorn was flying high after reeling off four birdies in five holes on the back nine, tournament favourite Rory McIlroy was struggling to make an impact on two-over-par after 16.

The 22-year-old Briton, the subject of ‘Rory-mania’ at Sandwich as a result of his commanding eight-shot win at the U.S. Open last month, prompted groans from his army of fans when he three-putted the first hole.

McIlroy dropped another stroke when he failed to get up and down from off the green at the third but he hit a mid-range iron at the eighth and drilled his ball under the 20-mph breezes to within eight feet of the flag and sank his birdie putt.

The Northern Irishman, however, then carded his third bogey of the day at the par-four 13th.

CALAMITOUS RUN

Bjorn was three strokes ahead with four holes to play in the 2003 Open before a calamitous bogey-double bogey-bogey run effectively handed the Claret Jug trophy to American Ben Curtis.

His main blunder came at the 16th where he needed three attempts to get out of a greenside bunker.

Eight years on it was a different story for the Qatar Masters champion as he peppered the flags on the inward half. At the par-three 16th he struck a majestic tee shot to eight feet before his curling birdie putt disappeared into the cup.

Bjorn spoiled his run of birdies when a poor chip at the 18th led to a bogey but he was still delighted to be leading by one stroke from Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (66).

Britain’s Simon Dyson, playing in the same threeball as Bjorn and also the recipient of a late ticket to the Open following the withdrawal of American David Toms, was in the clubhouse on 68, two under.

Bjorn, still searching for his first major victory, said: “A lot of people have asked me what I feel about 2003 (but) it’s in the past.

“I also got close by finishing tied second in the 2005 U.S. PGA Championship at Baltusrol. I’ve always promised myself I’ll keep going and keep going,” added Bjorn who was one of the triumphant European team’s vice-captains at last year’s Ryder Cup.

“People can do whatever they want, write you off even… but when you live in a career that’s there ahead of you, you try and make the best of every single day.

“I don’t at the moment play the golf that I used to but I did today. I always look ahead—I’m 40 years old and there might just be a little bit more in me.”  (Editing by Ken Ferris; To comment on this story: sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)