Faldo ignites Ryder Cup hopes

Seven years on from his last Ryder Cup appearance and eight weeks on from his last tournament Nick Faldo made just the start to 2004 he was hoping for today.

A seven under par 65 in the £1m (€1.45m) Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok sent the 46-year-old into the second round only one behind Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn - also playing competitively for the first time since the Hong Kong Open at the start of December.

While playing partner and defending champion Ernie Els needed three birdies in his last six holes for a 70 and Colin Montgomerie could do no better than 73, Faldo defied the steamy conditions to re-ignite the hopes of those who have backed him to face the Americans for a record 12th time in September.

After the first four months of the race the six-time major champion, who decided to go for a place on the team rather than the captaincy, is not in the top 50.

But with the words “Ignite” and “Get Hot” on his golf bag Faldo did just that, surprising even himself with eight birdies in his last 14 holes. Like Bjorn, he covered the front nine in a mere 30 strokes.

The Nissan Open in Los Angeles in March 1997 was Faldo’s last solo victory and he has been taking a good hard look at himself lately. Literally.

“I’ve been in Phuket for four weeks,” he said. “Three goals – one to rest, one to train physically and one to practice. But rather than hit an awful lot of balls I was just swinging and doing it just from the reflection in the window.

“I’m trying to mix balance and strength and speed together, trying to unwind the club as freely as possible and really let it go.

“Obviously the Ryder Cup is the main goal this year and to do that I’ve got to do some really good stuff. Simple as that.

“Nothing has happened so far, so I’ve got all the work to do now. Playing with Ernie is fantastic and I was inspired by his putts at the start. It brought me to life.

“I was really pleased. I just played aggressively and kept myself focused on every single hole.”

Bjorn, who lost the Open last July from three ahead with four to play, is switching his focus to the US Tour more this year and with that in mind worked really hard in Dubai during his lay-off. He was understandably delighted that it paid dividends straightaway.

“Very rarely do I play well after a long break,” he said. “It’s not normally my strong side – I normally have to play tournaments to get competitive.

“I’ve done a lot of gym work and also figured out (with Yorkshire coach Peter Cowen) what I wanted to do with my golf swing.

“I made a decision that I don’t want to swing the club the way books and everybody tell you you’re supposed to, but play with my faults instead of trying to fight them all the time.

“I tend to take it away a little bit too much on the inside and from there it’s very easy to get ahead of the ball. If I get stronger I’ve got a much, much better chance of keeping the club on line.”

Highlight of his round was a 258-yard five-wood to 12 inches for an eagle at the 555-yard seventh.

Ian Poulter’s 66 put him joint third with American Edward Loar and Australians Scott Gardiner and Jarrod Moseley – after he feared he might have to pull out.

Poulter’s alarm went at 4.45am and he woke up with what he thought was either a dislodged rib or a pulled muscle.

It came on top of a chest infection he has had for two weeks and the 28-year-old from Milton Keynes said: “I was in agony, but my physio is travelling with me and I was on the massage table for 45 minutes.

“The pain has gone away now – and hopefully won’t come back.”

Els, world number three and winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii two weeks ago, was one over after four bogeys in five holes around the turn and even after his strong finish he said: “I can play a lot better than that. I didn’t quite have my rhythm on the driver.”

Open champion Ben Curtis, paired with Faldo and Els, hit back supremely well from a scrappy two over after eight to finish with a four under 68, but Montgomerie had to wait 16 holes for his first birdie and Justin Rose’s level par 72 represented a real recovery after he had double bogey sevens at both the fifth and seventh.

He finished in a group that also included Lee Westwood and Ian Woosnam. They are joint 75th and only the top 70 and ties qualify tomorrow night for the final 36 holes. Montgomerie lies 94th.