Thursday 23 April 2015 13:53, UK
Thomas Bjorn justified his decision to compete in this week's CIMB NIAGA Indonesian Masters as he raced into a share of the lead after a first-round 66.
The Dane is chairman of the European Tour players committee, but he opted to play at the Royal Jakarta Golf Club instead of teeing up in the European Tour's Volvo China Open.
But the 44-year-old took advantage of benign early conditions as he rolled in seven birdies, while two-time champion Lee Westwood defied strengthening winds in the afternoon to card a creditable three-under 69.
Bjorn started at the 10th and birdied two of his first three holes in a solid back-nine 34, but he hit a rich vein of form on the outward half as he reeled off four consecutive birdies from the second to join Taiwan's Chan Shih-chang at the top of the leaderboard.
Bjorn, 44, has yet to record a top-20 finish this season as he battles a troublesome shoulder problem, but the heat and humidity in Jakarta clearly helped dampen the pain.
"It's nice to come out in the heat, it doesn't hurt so much," he said. "I still feel my shoulder a bit at times, but I feel in pretty good shape. I'm getting back to where I want to be.
"I played pretty solid and I got onto a nice run in my back-nine which kind of brought the round to a really good score. It was humid but nice in the morning especially the first 10 to 11 holes. You've got to focus really hard and not let your guard down here."
India's Abhijit Chadha provided the highlight of the day as he made a superb hole-in-one at the 207-yard 15th and then birdied three of his last four holes to card a 67, a score later matched by Australian Uhno Park.
Westwood, the champion in 2011 and 2012, was one over for his round after back-to-back bogeys at seven and eight, but he responded with three birdies in a row and added another at the last to get within three of the lead.
Westwood's fellow Englishman Simon Griffiths also enjoyed an excellent back-nine, making three birdies and holing his second shot to the 472-yard 13th for a thrilling eagle as he finished on four under par.
