Golf: Patience key for Thomas Bjorn in World Cup of Golf

Omnisport

•
Golf: Patience key for Thomas Bjorn in World Cup of Golf image

Thomas Bjorn was delighted with his patience as he grabbed the lead after the first round of the World Cup of Golf.

Bjorn carded a five-under 66 to be joint top at Royal Melbourne, with American Kevin Streelman alongside him after Thursday's play.

Bjorn said he planned to take advantage of the first six holes, where he shot two birdies and a double bogey, but was pleased he continued to play smart after the indifferent start.

"I did everything well today. I drove it pretty well," he said.

"The key to this golf course is that you get out there and you see the first six holes and you can make a lot of things happen in those first six holes and then the golf course turns very tricky and difficult.

"And I kind of knew that, that even though I didn't get the best start, I knew to just carry onto the end and play smart all day, put yourself in the right position off the tee and don't get too cute with any of these flags, and I did that."

Home favorite Adam Scott had a disastrous day after a quintuple bogey ruined his first round.

The in-form Australian finished with a nine at the par-four 12th as he carded a four-over 75 at Royal Melbourne.

Scott lost a ball and had another unplayable off the tee as the costly hole dealt a huge blow to his — and Australia's — chances of claiming the title.

He said: "It was just a couple of lazy swings today on 12 and I paid the price. (I was) away with the fairies on that hole.

"It was a little disappointing to do that but stuff can happen and that's why when you play good tracks like this you need to be switched on at all times and I paid the price today.

"I played pretty good. I was under the hole most of the day and obviously I dropped all my shots on that hole and then another poor drive down 15 cost me one where I should be playing that like a long par four.

"So I let all my shots slip there. Other than that it was fairly solid."

World Cup of Golf scores
Team Individual
United States 137 Thomas Bjorn, Denmark 34-32 66 Graeme McDowell, Ireland 35-37 72
Denmark 137 Kevin Streelman, United States 33-33 66 Siddikur Rahman, Bangladesh 34-39 73
Portugal 140 Stuart Manley, Wales 34-33 67 Victor Dubuisson, France 33-40 73
South Korea 141 K.J. Choi, South Korea 33-34 67 Vijay Singh, Fiji 35-38 73
Scotland 141 Martin Laird, Scotland 33-34 67 Maximilian Kieffer, Germany 36-37 73
Canada 141 Jason Day, Australia 33-35 68 Branden Grace, South Africa 34-39 73
Finland 142 Ricardo Santos, Portugal 35-34 69 Miguel A. Jimenez, Spain 38-35 73
Thailand 143 Danny Willett, England 34-35 69 Oscar Fraustro, Mexico 36-38 74
Japan 143 Tony Lascuna, Philippines 34-36 70 Mark Tullo, Chile 37-37 74
Australia 143 Mikko Korhonen, Finland 34-36 70 Robert-Jan Derksen, Netherlands 37-37 74
Philippines 144 Nicolas Colsaerts, Belgium 36-34 70 Angelo Que, Phillipines 35-39 74
Germany 144 David Hearn, Canada 34-36 70 Brendon de Jonge, Zimbabwe 33-41 74
England 144 Brad Fritsch, Canada 34-37 71 Bae Sang-moon, South Korea 34-40 74
Brazil 144 Jose-Filipe Lima, Portugal 34-37 71 George Coetzee, South Africa 37-37 74
France 145 Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand 34-37 71 Stephen Gallacher, Scotland 37-37 74
Ireland 147 Ryo Ishikawa, Japan 36-35 71 Felipe Aguilar, Chile 39-36 75
South Africa 147 Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark 33-38 71 Shane Lowry, Ireland 38-37 75
Sweden 148 Bernd Wiesberger, Austria 34-37 71 Chris Wood, England 37-38 75
Spain 148 Matt Kuchar, United States 31-40 71 Rafael Cabrera Bello, Spain 34-41 75
Chile 149 Marcel Siem, Germany 36-35 71 Francesco Molinari, Italy 36-39 75
Argentina 149 Alexandre Rocha, Brazil 35-37 72 Adam Scott, Australia 34-41 75
Netherlands 150 Roope Kakko, Finland 35-37 72 Mike Hendry, New Zealand 35-40 75
Italy 151 Fabian Gomez, Argentina 34-38 72 Liang Wenchong, China 37-38 75
China 152 Adilson da Silva, Brazil 35-37 72 Tim Sluiter, Netherlands 37-39 76
New Zealand 154 Espen Kofstad, Norway 37-35 72 Matteo Manassero, Italy 38-38 76
India 154 Hideto Tanihara, Japan 35-37 72 Jonas Blixt, Sweden 36-40 76
    Gregory Bourdy, France 36-36 72 Wu Ashun, China 37-40 77
    Anirban Lahiri, India 36-36 72 Emiliano Grillo, Argentina 40-37 77
    Prayad Marksaeng, Thailand 34-38 72 Tim Wilkinson, New Zealand 36-43 79
    Peter Hanson, Sweden 35-37 72 Gaganjeet Bhullar, India 40-42 82

 

Omnisport