Thomas Bjørn was delighted to get the competitive juices flowing again as he fired a third round 67 after thinking he had missed the cut at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters hosted by the Sergio Garcia Foundation.
The Dane had admitted he was not sure what the future held for him in golf following his Ryder Cup captaincy last year but proved he was competitive on the 2019 Race to Dubai as he made four of his first six cuts with a top 15 at the Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.
A freak ankle injury after stumbling on a kerb stalled his progress and he looked unlikely to make the weekend at Real Club Valderrama after a bogey-bogey finish dropped him to two over, but the high winds and firm greens on Friday afternoon brought the field back to him.
In glorious conditions on day three, the 15 time European Tour winner made five birdies and a single bogey to fly up the leaderboard, and was delighted to be back at the right end of things.
"I got a bit nervous on the last few holes yesterday for some odd reason and I thought I had missed the cut to be honest," he said. "It got tricky yesterday afternoon for everyone and I took advantage of a beautiful morning this morning.
It’s been a while since I have felt as good about my golf game as I did today - Thomas Bjørn
"I played lovely - I haven’t played like that for a long time. Very happy just with a round of golf just now. Four weeks ago I was in a boot with a bad ankle, wasn’t really looking to be playing. I’m delighted with how that has turned out so that I can be out playing golf.
"When you get into a round like this when you start making some birdies - I had a run there of three birdies in a row on the front nine - you start recognising yourself in that environment, which is probably the hard thing in golf.
"When you have been used to competing for events and then you haven’t done it for years, it’s hard to get yourself in a situation where you recognise the world that you used to live in. That’s the hard bit, so I will go out and try to enjoy tomorrow.
"It’s been a while since I have felt as good about my golf game as I did today. It’s funny what a good night’s sleep can do in golf.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve been inside the top ten, so if that happens I’ll just stick my head down, try to get a good night’s rest, go out and play some golf tomorrow and try to have some fun with it."
