Bjorn buoyed by hole-in-one

Abu Dhabi: Thomas Bjorn, the Danish veteran, admitted a hole-in-one – the first of two on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Thursday – had given him vital impetus to shoot a four-under-par 68.

The 44-year-old had suffered a triple bogey at the 13th, before immediately compensating for this lapse with his one-shot brilliance at the next hole at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

France’s Gregory Havret emulated Bjorn’s feat later in the day at the 15th.

“It was nice after I triple-bogeyed,” Bjorn said. “It kept the mood going. I obviously hit a good shot and it went in. I didn’t know actually know it had gone in until we got to the hole. There was no clapping around the green and it didn’t sound like something good was happening.”

The last of Bjorn’s 15 European Tour victories came at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December 2013 and he has since plummeted to 207 in the world rankings having been as high as 19 in 2003.

He says his focus now is to “enjoy playing golf” rather than “ask too much of myself” by striving to win tournaments.

“I feel like I’m in a decent place with everything,” Bjorn added. “I’ve been away from the game quite a bit. I needed away from it after last season. I was banging my head a little bit against the wall.

“It was a tough year, but now I feel fresh in the mind and am looking at opportunities and new things ahead.”

Meanwhile, the record three-time Abu Dhabi champion, Martin Kaymer, who squandered a 10-shot lead on the final day last year, made a decent start with a three-under-par 69.

“I think it was a good start,” the German said. “69 is never really a bad score. I missed a couple of fairways in the last two or three holes and therefore didn’t give myself much of a chance to make birdie.

“But overall, it was a solid round. I was very pleased with my putting. A lot of the putts, they started on line.”

Has he noticed any changes to the National Course since last year?

“No, it hasn’t changed much. Overall I placed myself in a decent position.

“I know I can always shoot a low score on that golf course, as long as I hit the fairways, and especially this week, it’s even more important.”