Thomas Bjorn gains early lead in the first round of Open Championship
Dane Thomas Bjorn has grabbed, what appears to be an early lead at the Open Championship after the opening round at Royal St. George’s. The 41-year-old carded a first round of five-under, 65 to stay ahead of the rest of the field at the difficult wind-swept
course.
Bjorn, who managed to squeeze into the field at the eleventh hour, owing primarily to the consecutive withdrawals, was more than happy with his first round performance and is hoping to capitalize on his early gains.
“It was not very nice being first reserve on Monday but I decided to treat it as a bit of a joyride if I got in,” said Bjorn, “It gave me a bit of a boost on Monday when I got in and it's a good start. There's a lot involved after what happened in
2003 and I was just happy to get in first of all. I've not had good form of late so it's a bit of a surprise to me how well I played today.”
Bjorn was reminiscent of the 2003 Open Championship, where he threw away his lead in the final round to fell for a four-over in the last holes playing on the same course. He was the sixth reserve at the Open last week and had lost all hopes to be part
of the field this week. With Vijay Singh’s decision to stay back, Bjorn qualified to tee off at the championship.
Bjorn carded a staggering eight birdies in his round, most of them coming at the back nine. He dropped just two shots at par-four, 9th and par-four, 18th. Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez is trailing Bjorn by one shot
and is looking to hit back in the next rounds in the tournament.
A rejuvenated Sergio Garcia was seen sinking some excellent puts in his back nine and is currently three-under for the moment. Garcia dropped just one shot at par-four, 4th and has still to tee-off for his last three holes.
He is currently tied for the third spot alongside Englishman Simon Dyson and Dane Anders Hanson.
Other high profile players who have already call it a day at the Royal St. George’s include Ian Poulter (69), Stewart Cink (70), Dustin Johnson (70), K.J.Choi (71), Francesco Molinari (73), Geoff Ogilvy (74), Nick Watney (74), Rhys Davies (75), and
Thongchai Jaidee (75).
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