The Bjorn supremacy
The Dane returned home immediately on hearing the news and little has gone right on the golf course since. A missed cut in Wales, a withdrawal due to back injury from British Open qualifying and a loss of direction to all facets of his game.
When Vijay Singh withdrew from the championship proper on Monday afternoon though, Bjorn was handed the opportunity to return to Royal St George’s as an alternate and salve a comparatively more trivial emotional wound than the grief he is experiencing at the loss of his father.
It was eight years ago that these Sandwich links became Bjorn’s nemesis, the final four holes destroyed his hopes of major championship glory as he frittered away a four-shot lead after 68 holes of the 2003 British Open, closing bogey, double bogey, bogey, par to let the unheralded Ben Curtis in for a surprising victory.
That double-bogey five came at the 16th, where Bjorn floundered in a greenside bunker, taking three shots to escape the sand trap. Yesterday, the Dane looked the 16th squarely in the eye, avoiding that dastardly hazard to birdie the hole on the way to a five-under-par 65 that led the first round of the 2011 Open for most of the day until amateur Tom Lewis stole a little of his thunder.
“It was quite nice to see that name on that leaderboard all day. That tends to happen when you tee off at 7.25 in the morning,” Bjorn joked afterwards.
“No, it was a good day. I promised myself today I would go out and focus on every single shot ahead of me and go after every single shot, and I did that. Rolled in a few putts here and there, and it turned out to be a day of just feeling really solid with everything I did.”
That has been a long time coming after a couple of months in the doldrums with his game, the 2010 Ryder Cup assistant captain admitting: “I’ve been very uncomfortable on the golf course for a long time. I’m not really knowing where the ball starts and I’m not really striking the ball the way I wanted to.
“I did some work with Pete Cowen yesterday on the range, and there was a couple of things there that started to make sense after a few tough weeks on Tour. I felt comfortable yesterday, and I felt comfortable on the golf course today. I hit pretty much all the shots I wanted to hit, and I walked off with a round of 65, which is very pleasing.”
And particularly pleasing given the turmoil he experienced on his last visit to Royal St George’s.
“It was eight years ago. A lot of people have asked me about what I feel about the 2003 Open. It’s in the past. I’ve worked very hard in my career to get myself in them positions. I got in that position in 03, and that was my biggest chance to win a major championship.
“I don’t at the moment play the golf that I used to, but I did today. But most of the time I don’t. That’s down to a lot of issues, I think. But I look ahead and I always look ahead. I’m 40 years old, and there might just be a little bit more in me.”
And even if there isn’t, he’ll always have that avenging moment on 16, although he refused to get sentimental about it.
“That hole owes nobody anything, and no hole in golf does, and no golf course does,” he said. “I played that Open and I played fantastic the whole week. I tried to hit the right shot every single time, and I didn’t hit the right shot on 16. That happens in golf. That’s the nature of this game. You’ve just got to deal with them things.
“Does that hole owe me anything? No.”
Still, there was emotion, and when Bjorn was asked if he thought his late father might have been proud of his son leading the British Open, it took quite a while before he felt composed enough to respond.
Eventually, and with tears in his eyes, Bjorn said: “He would have been very proud of what I did today. That’s all I’ve really got to say.”
And sometimes, there is nothing more to say.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
