The Danish golfer Thomas Bjorn, who was cruelly denied his first major win when the British Open was last held at Royal St George's, went some way to banishing the demons of his late 2003 collapse by snatching the club-house lead in this morning's opening round.
The 40-year-old was only handed a last-gasp place at the Open when Fiji's Vijay Singh pulled out, but that didn't stop the Dane firing an impressive five-under-par 65 to be joint leader with English amateur Tom Lewis.
Bjorn says he's doing his best to put the misery of 2003 behind him.
Bjorn and Lewis have a one stroke lead over the Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez and American Luas Glover, while favourite Rory McIlroy fired a one-over par 71, posting the same score as England's world number one Luke Donald, to be tied for 53rd.
