Late addition Thomas Bjorn made a superb start on his path to British Open redemption by storming to a five-under 65 in the opening round at Royal St George's.
The Danish golfer, who blew a three-shot lead with four holes to play at the 2003 Open at the Kent venue, was only called up for the tournament on Monday following a rash of withdrawals and injuries.
Six players, including Tiger Woods and Australia's Brendan Jones, pulled out of the major to allow him a chance to atone for his meltdown eight years ago.
Jones knocked back the invitation to be with his wife for the birth of their second child in Canberra.
And Bjorn could almost be excused for wanting to kiss the new addition to Jones' family for providing him with the slice of good luck.
The Dane made the most of the calmer morning conditions to shoot seven birdies and two bogeys.
"I promised myself I would enjoy it," he said.
"I was not expecting to play in it. There was no reason to get uptight.
He said the near miss in 2003 had made him more determined to fight on for a maiden major title.
"It was my biggest chance to win a major but I have always promised to keep going and going," he said.
"If I last until Sunday, I will be delighted but only time will tell."
With victory in sight in 2003, if his approach shot to the 16th green had been three feet to the left he would almost certainly have won his first major.
Instead he took three shots to get out of a greenside bunker and bogeyed the next to hand victory to American Ben Curtis.
This time around Bjorn had a kind bounce and birdied the 16th.
"That hole owes nobody anything and no hole on a golf course does," he said.
" ...it does give you belief that things can turn around for you."
Bjorn said his collapse in 2003 had really affected him at the following year's Open at Royal Troon.
Not that the prospect of returning to scene of his bunker implosion had made want to skip this tournament.
"This is the Open championship, where else would you like to be," he said.
Bjorn has battled since winning the Qatar Masters in February, not registering a top ten finish in the past five months.
"It was nice to be on top of the leaderboard, even if I did start at 7.25 in the morning," he said.
"I have not been comfortable on the golf course for a while. That was a step in the right direction for me mentally."
With the thermometer hovering around 14 degrees and with dark clouds overhead, the fans gathered in their thousands on Thursday to watch boy wonder Rory McIlroy in action.
Following the announcement of his name on the first tee, last month's US Open champion was handed a standing ovation for a minute from the adoring crowd.
