By IANS
New Delhi : It could not have been better start for Thomas Bjorn, as he came back with a four-under 68 that gave him a share of early lead in the first round of the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters at the Delhi Golf Club Thursday
The Dane settled in Dubai, who turns 37 next week, will be pleased with his own first round on what is European Tour’s debut in India. As the Chairman of the European Tour’s Tournament Committee, Bjorn is most keen to make the event a success, which would then open India as a new market for European golf.
Not only was he happy with his round, but he also admitted great joy in playing on a course like the Delhi Golf Club.
“It’s obviously fun when you’re doing the right things and playing well, but it’s hard work in a way,” said Bjorn. “But it’s good fun. I mean, this is the way golf was, you know, Australia and South Africa 20 years ago. You found golf courses like this all the time. And we’ve just gotten so used to big, modern golf courses that we’ve forgotten that this exists.”
“It’s quite good fun, I think, to play golf courses like this again. You know, it certainly shows that a golf course doesn’t need to be long to be difficult — and I think the players will emphasize that. It seems like we’re building these 8,000 yard long golf courses these days and people are still shooting 20-under.”
“But you get on a golf course like this where you have to think off the tee and you put guys under pressure all day long by inviting them to hit driver, but when they do, they have to hit the perfect golf shot or they are in big trouble. I think that’s the way that golf is supposed to be played, really.
“And to that extent, it reminds me a little bit of the way you have to approach a links golf course really. You can try and overpower it, and then you’ve got to have one of those days where everything goes your way, and then you can shoot a low number. But if it doesn’t come off, you’re going to find yourself in huge trouble.”
On his first round, Bjorn added, “I played pretty solid until the last three holes really. It was just pretty steady off the tee. I took it a bit conservative off the tee on most holes, and a couple chances I took and got off well. So it was a nice day. It was a good start, anyway, so we’ll work from there.”
He admitted, it was often tempting to go for the green, “It’s definitely very tempting. The par 5s are so inviting in a way that if you hit good drives on all of them, you’re getting up very easy, you’re getting up with irons on every one, but there’s nowhere to hit the driver, really. You have to hit a spectacular shot, and if you don’t, then trouble is there for you.