GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND // Thomas Bjorn, who for so long wintered in the Middle East, handed in a 10 over par 82 which left him 14 shots off the early first-round lead in the Johnnie Walker championship.
When, at the end, he was summoned for a drug test, there was the mischievous suggestion that he had been singled out because his golf had been so extraordinarily poor.
Bjorn himself would have enjoyed that crack but there is, in fact, a worrying explanation for his high tally.
For the last couple of months, Bjorn has been suffering from dizzy spells and exhaustion to the point where he was at one point sleeping between 15 and 16 hours a day. He had a brain scan but, to use his own well-chosen words, "They found a brain but nothing else."
Bjorn's own theory is that he has "hit the wall" after years of endless travelling, jet-lag and erratic hours. A two months' break he has had since July may or may not have done him good, but another problem in the life of a tournament professional is that impatience does not take too long to kick in.
"My golf is very rusty but I had to get back out here," said Bjorn, who has entered several events in a row in the hope of playing through this darker spell.
Scotland's Steven O'Hara was one of four of the morning players to hand in a 68, the others being Wade Ormsby, Gregory Havret and Ake Nilsson.
Colin Montgomerie is always being asked why none among the latest generation of Scots has come close to matching his achievements. Responding to that, O'Hara said: "Monty was in a different league to the rest of us, but it's a lot harder than people think to have a good result week-in, week-out."
"Personally," he added, "I don't think you can call us failures. To get on to the European Tour is an achievement in itself."
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Company%20Profile
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The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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The%20specs
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Sunday:
GP3 race: 12:10pm
Formula 2 race: 1:35pm
Formula 1 race: 5:10pm
Performance: Guns N' Roses
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
More from our neighbourhood series:
KINGDOM%20OF%20THE%20PLANET%20OF%20THE%20APES
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