Philip Reid finds Thomas Bjorn in confident mood after his joint-second place finish to Phil Mickelson in the US PGA at Baltusrol
Another one had slipped from his grasp, but Thomas Bjorn wasn't a dejected soul with demons swirling around in his head. At least, this time, he hadn't blown it. This time, there had been no meltdown. This time, the Dane had stuck around to the end and given it his best shot.
On the last occasion that Bjorn got into a similar challenging position in a major, in the 2003 British Open at Sandwich, he had disintegrated in a horrible way.
He took three attempts to get out of a bunker on the 70th hole to throw away his chances, while more recently in the Smurfit European Open at The K Club last month, he took a septuple-bogey 11 on the 71st hole of the tournament to blow it.
That collapse in Straffan led him to seek out Jamil Qureshi, a former stage magician who is now plying his trade as a "mind guru" on the professional golf circuit, and the result was that the abject and forlorn figure who left the K Club has reappeared as a stronger, more confident individual who won't back off.
"I never doubted I had the ability. I've won 10 times around the world and contended in too many majors to ever give up on myself," remarked Bjorn, after finishing tied-second with Steve Elkington to Phil Mickelson in the US PGA at Baltusrol yesterday.
He had come up one shot shy of a play-off, and felt he had hit the perfect putt on the 18th - going so far as to walk after it as it approached the hole - only for the birdie attempt to lip out.
On this occasion, though, there was no sense of loss.
"I've stuck my nose in there and played hard and tried hard. You know, I tried 110 per cent and I came up one shot short . . . you've got to think I had a great chance (to win) here, but you also have to say that I've done some very good things. I've worked hard on my game and got myself into a position where I can contend for major championships.
"I'll just keep going, 2006 is not too far away and I'll look forward to those majors."
As for the player who edged him out, Bjorn expressed the opinion that modern golf needs someone to rival Tiger Woods and that Mickelson's rivalry could only be good for the game.
"Phil deserves this win more than anybody," said Bjorn. "He's not a one-major guy, he's a 10-major guy. He's going to go on now and contend for majors as he's always done but it is going to be easier and easier for him to win them now. He deserves this greatness."
Bjorn moves on to play in this week's NEC Invitational in Akron, where the field includes four Irish players: Pádraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell. Despite missing the cut at Baltusrol, Harrington remains eighth in the world rankings with Clarke in 15th position, McDowell in 43rd and McGinley in 47th.
