SANDWICH, England — Enough about 2003. Thomas Bjorn is trying to create some new memories at Royal St. George’s.
Bjorn opened with a 5-under 65 to claim the lead in the British Open, the major title he was denied the last time it came to this course on the English seaside.
Not that he’s dwelling on what happened eight years ago.
“I’m 40 years old,” the Dane said, “and there might just be a little bit more in me.”
Bjorn ripped off three straight birdies coming down the stretch. Even with a stumble at the final hole, he was in the clubhouse with a one-stroke lead over Miguel Angel Jimenez and six strokes ahead of U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, who got off to a sluggish start.
While McIlroy was the clear favorite, Bjorn didn’t even get into the tournament until Monday as an alternate, giving him a chance to make up for his collapse at the ’03 Open.
That’s when he squandered a two-stroke lead over the final three holes, largely by needing three swings to escape a bunker on the par-3 16th. Ben Curtis went on to claim the claret jug in one of golf’s greatest shockers.
“I probably didn’t dwell on it as much as some people thought,” Bjorn said. “I think the only really hard time I had with it was when I came back to Troon the year after. I felt that was difficult because it just became so fresh in the mind: the Open Championship.”
Bjorn got some good fortune at the 16th this time. He thought his 9-iron was headed for the bunker, but the ball took a fortunate bounce and rolled down toward the cup. He made the putt for his third birdie in a row.
“We all know what it’s like,” Bjorn said. “A bounce here or there, and then it goes either wrong or right. Today, it went my way.”
Through it all, there was no thought of trying to make up for the last Open at Royal St. George’s.
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“A lot of people make a lot of things about that, but the only way I can play golf is to concentrate on the shot in front of me,” he said. “It never entered my mind.”
At least, it appears, he won’t have to worry about Curtis. The American champion will have trouble just making the cut after shooting a 77.
The clear favorite was McIlroy, coming off his dominating win at Congressional. But the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland put himself in an early hole by making bogeys on two of his first three holes.
McIlroy had trouble hitting it straight off the tee and looked shaky with the putter, hardly resembling the player who blew away the field by eight strokes for his first major title last month, setting a U.S. Open scoring record at 16 under.
Of course, there’s still plenty of time for a comeback. All eyes will surely remain on McIlroy, who has emerged as the new face of golf while Tiger Woods sits out his second straight major because of an injured leg.
“It was a day where you just needed to grind out a score,” McIlroy said. “Anywhere around even par was a good start.”
Playing right behind McIlroy was England’s Luke Donald, ranked No. 1 in the world and coming off a four-stroke win at the Scottish Open. But his day went much like McIlroy’s, leaving them both to settle for 71s.
Dustin Johnson, one of the top American hopes, got off to a dismal start but turned things around with an amazing finish. He had two straight birdies, then made a hole-in-one at the 16th, the ball hooking onto the green, catching the flagstick — and disappearing from view.
Dustin Johnson celebrates his hole-in-one on the 163-yard 16th hole at Royal St. George’s.
Back on the tee, Johnson high-fived playing partner Ian Poulter, celebrating the first ace at the Open since Thomas Levet’s in the final round at Turnberry two years ago. Johnson made another birdie at 17 before a closing bogey left him with a 70.
The Americans are eager for Johnson — or anyone — to break through. The U.S. has gone five straight majors without a title, its longest drought in the modern Grand Slam era.
Bjorn played well early in the year, winning the Qatar Masters against a strong field and beating Tiger Woods in the World Match Play Championship. But the Dane missed the cuts in four of five events before the Open, needing help just to make it to the first tee.
He got his spot Monday night when Vijay Singh withdrew.
“I’ve been very uncomfortable on the golf course for a long time,” Bjorn said. “If I can last all the way until Sunday, well, only time will tell. But I’m very, very delighted with today.”
The 47-year-old Jimenez was right in the mix as well. Using all the experience built up over 28 years on the European Tour and four Ryder Cups spanning 1999 to 2010, the Spaniard capped off a bogey-free round with a brilliant chip at the 18th, saving par with a short putt after he drove into the tall grass.
“I played very solid all day long,” he said. “I played very well from tee to green, putted well and that’s what you need to make pars on this course.”
The weather is always the biggest unknown at the British Open. Punishing gusts whipped across Royal St. George’s during the practice rounds, and storms can blow in off the sea at any time.
The wind wasn’t quite as daunting on Day 1, at least for those who went out in the morning, and there was only an occasional splattering of rain despite threatening skies.
Simon Dyson of England, another alternate, shot a 68. Poulter and 51-year-old Mark Calcavecchia were among those at 69. Sergio Garcia was another stroke back.
Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen and Phil Mickelson, the last American to win a major, had afternoon tee times.
Ricky Barnes of the United States earned a last-minute place in the field following the withdrawal of Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts (elbow injury).
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