Smiles all round as Bjorn banishes demons

FOR all the world it could have been any casual, friendly, club three-ball.

Like they hadn’t a care in the world between the three of them they walked and talked, laughed their relaxed way from first tee to 18th green. No-one watching would have thought these were three top professionals playing the longest course laid out on the European Tour, or that they were playing for a total prize fund of nearly €2 million.

No-one would have thought one of those guys was Pádraig Harrington, the world’s number nine golfer, carrying the hopes of a home nation despairing without a win in this event in over 20 years on his muscular sloping shoulders. More especially, no-one would have thought another of those guys was Thomas Bjorn, the Dane who just five days ago had seen the Claret Jug, the most storied and prized trophy in golf, ripped from his grasp during the final four holes of the British Open.