I Was Just Trying To Break 90 - Bjorn All Smiles After Surprising 66 In Ireland

Thomas Bjorn was all smiles at just how "silly" professional golf can be after rocking up to Horizon Irish Open after 10 weeks out injured with no feel for his game - and promptly shooting 66 to contend for the lead!

The veteran Dane had the advantage of knowing The K Club inside out, but even so, turning up to a top event after so long out and finishing the day tied for second is some achievement.

And the 52-year-old was still chuckling to himself in his post-round interview as he was as surprised as anyone at the round he managed to put together on his return to action.

"I said to Chris (his caddie) this morning when we walked to the first tee, I said, let's try to see if we can break 90," said Bjorn as he revealed just how low his expectations were after so long out.

"And after nine holes I said I've got to shoot 56 on the back nine to break 90 so we'll be alright. It was that kind of day.

"I came here, I've got no feelings for the game, and it just shows how silly this game can be. You can work hard for weeks and go out and shoot bad scores.

"Expectations sometimes gets in the way of professional golf, as I've known, and then you just go out and enjoy yourself, you're just happy to be on the golf course after so long.

"It's just one of those things."

He still had to play all the shots, but Bjorn says his experience of playing The K Club down the years really helped him to feel comfortable even after so long away from tournament action.

"I'm fortunate, I've played this golf course so many times," he added. "It's a long time ago; we played here every year, but it's always been the same fairways and greens.

"I drove it very well today. I think I missed one fairway in this round of golf, and then this golf course becomes a lot easier to deal with.

"I hit it under the tree on the 9th, my last home, and that was the first time I had to hit some kind of shot. It was one of those days. It's quite a remarkable game sometimes.

"It's nice to come into a golf course you know well. You kind of know the lines and you know where to go and how to deal with them. That's always a good thing.

"Experiences on golf courses here, that's not something that you can buy. That's something that you have to earn."