For his first competitive outing at Gleneagles, it was mightily impressive. Thomas Björn, whose first tournament success came in Scotland at Loch Lomond in 1996, gave himself the chance of another victory north of the border when a superb eight under par 65 saw him take the first round pole position on his debut in the Johnnie Walker Championship.
The Dane moved two shots clear of an eclectic trio of players, England’s Paul Casey, South Africa’s Andrew McLardy and Andres Romero of Argentina with an impressive group one shot further adrift of them on 68, including two players who featured in the final day drama of last week’s US Open Championship at Winged Foot, Kenneth Ferrie and Colin Montgomerie.
But it was Björn who grabbed the majority of the headlines and it could have been even better for the 35 year old Ryder Cup player who started in sensational fashion and was nine under par for the first 11 holes he played – the tenth to the second.
In that run there were seven birdies and an eagle three at the second, where he hit a stunning second shot to within four feet of the cup, but after that, the run dried up and he completed his final seven holes in one over par, the blip coming at the 211 yard fourth, where he missed the green with his three iron tee shot. Despite that though, the Dane was not downheartened.
“Well the first 11 holes were very special,” he said. “I probably mis-hit only one shot in those 11 holes and that was the third shot at the 18th but apart from that it was the golf I have been searching for and you all know me, the way I am, I search for perfection all the time and the first 11 holes were certainly nearly perfection.
“But at the end it showed that I had only played one round on this golf course and that was yesterday in those (difficult) conditions. I hit a couple of wrong clubs off the tee at the fifth and the eighth but I was lucky to get away with par on both these holes. But it was a good day.”
Sharing the overall joie de vivre was Casey who completed his six under par 67 without shedding a stroke to the PGA Centenary Course, the Englishman evenly spreading his birdies with three on each half of the course.
“I am very pleased with that, especially with the way the conditions were yesterday in the pro-am. I played five holes (before play was abandoned) and it was just impossible. But I woke up this morning and luckily the weather was good and I am very, very happy with that score especially as Thomas looked like he was going to shoot nothing out there, so I am very happy to be only a couple back at the end of the day.”
Alongside Casey was Argentine Romero who recovered admirably from bogeys at the 15th and 16th to eagle the 18th hole to book his place in the higher echelons of the leaderboard, and McLardy, who received an extra special cheer from the galleries considering, as his name would suggest, he still has relatives in Scotland.
The South African was only reunited with his golf clubs late on Wednesday night after a nightmare journey from holiday in America to Perthshire and he made full use of them, especially his trusty putter which he has had for six years now and which he only used 24 times in an impressive display on the greens.
Scottish hero Montgomerie should have joined the trio on 67 but he bogeyed the last after mis-hitting his eight iron approach shot which left him rueing another disappointing 18th hole.
“It was quite difficult today because every shot I hit I thought about the last one I hit there (in the US Open) and it is difficult to think about that. But the birdie at the first was very important as I said and then we can try and move forward and try and do what we’re trying to do here.
“I will not be able to get it out of my system for a long time, one round of golf won’t get it out of my system. I might never get it out of my system. If I never win a Major that will remain with me, yes, of course it will. I need to win one to get rid of it. But it doesn’t stop me playing decent golf in between. Every tournament from now on will ease, but never forget.”
Finally, while it is likely the majority of the crowd who turn up for Sunday’s final round will hope that Ecuador do the business over England in the World Cup in Germany later that same day, they will now actually have a chance to cheer on the boys from South America thanks to a move by the tournament committee itself.
Originally scheduled to finish at 4.45pm, the tournament finish time has brought forward to 3.45pm to allow the Johnnie Walker Championship winner to be crowned before the second round match in Stuttgart kicks off.
Graeme Marchbank, Championship Director, said: “In light of the start time of the England match in the World Cup in Germany, we have reviewed the timings for play on Sunday.
“With the support of The European Tour, Sky Sports and European Tour Productions, we have decided to complete play at 15.45 rather than the previously anticipated 16.45. Television coverage will commence one hour earlier than previously announced and will end at 16.00.
“We believe that this decision will best serve our golf fans in their enjoyment of what will be an outstanding afternoon’s sport.”
