Brave effort by Johansson

Others with more fragile egos would have tossed in the towel, or faked an injury. Yesterday, PerUlrik Johansson, the winner of the European Open for the past two years, took his place on the first tee-box with his customary back-to-front black beret placed meticulously on his head, rolled up his sleeves and embarked on a fight for survival.

An opening round of 83 would have wrecked the confidence of many a player. Not Johansson's, though. Some four and a half hours after smacking his drive down the first fairway, the Swede with the American education and a residence in Monaco stood on the 18th green and watched as his fifth birdie of the day rolled into the middle of the tin cup for a battling, brave second round of 67. Enough?

Only time would tell (and some six hours later he learnt that he'd taken a shot too many), but at least Johansson could make the short journey down the driveway to the hotel with his honour intact. On Thursday, after shooting that round in the 80s, Johansson headed off to the range for some work, the kind you do whether you need to or not. He was back there yesterday morning too, long before his 8.30 a.m. tee-time.

The strange thing is that there was nothing obviously wrong with his game in shooting that high opening round. "I was bad, okay, but not that bad," he said. "Maybe I was a little tired, but I honestly didn't feel any effects of jet-lag because I'd had two good days' rest here. There wasn't any real reason for the bad round."

Golf sure is a funny old game. Yesterday, Johansson improved on his first round score by 16 shots. "I didn't want to give up. Just because of one terrible round, you don't give up. I'm the champion here and I didn't want to give in too easily and the way in which I played today was satisfying," he said. Playing alongside Bernhard Langer, his predecessor as European Open champion, and the club's touring professional, Paul McGinley, the group had a better-ball of 61 and the Swede was like a spring lamb again, bounding up the fairway with none of the lethargy that had hindered his game the previous day.

Langer may have shot 65, but Johansson's sheer professionalism earned kudos too from McGinley. "It's Bernhard's style, he just doesn't make any mistakes and milked the round for all he had. I wasn't surprised by his score."

He continued: "I'm very focused when I'm playing, but I could still appreciate what PerUlrik was doing, coming back from that bad first round score."

For McGinley's new caddie, JP Fitzgerald, it was a lesson. "Bernard's never fazed and hasn't made one mental error in two days," commented Fitzgerald, "but PerUlrik's performance was a credit to him. He just never quit when, for some people, that would have been the easier option."

Johansson's effort proved futile, the cut coming on five over par 149, a shot less than his total.