Given all that’s gone on this week, it was almost inevitable we’d be talking about Thorbjorn Olesen falling off a camel.
The debate’s all been about Rory McIlroy’s kickabout and the resultant ankle injury that grounded him from the Aberdeen Asset Managament Scottish Open and next week’s Open Championship.
But in the pantheon of bizarre injuries suffered by golfers, nothing beats the Dane falling off the hump in Dubai a few years ago.
Olesen would rather be remembered, quite obviously, for rounds like Thursday’s bogey-free, seven-under 63 at Gullane which gave him an immediate one-shot lead over English late starter Daniel Brooks.
On a day as benign as East Lothian enjoys and the last until Sunday if the weather forecast is anything to go by it was an opportunity to go low that could not be missed.
The cut mark after 18 holes lies at one-under, with as many as seven 65s lying in third place, and nine on 66. The course, quite properly with next week coming up, has been set-up not to overly tax the leading players, although there were still a few disasters lurking.
But while they can take such precautions to protect players’ fragile egos and swings on days like yesterday, when the wind and rain gets up there’s not much protection to be had. We’re promised 25mph winds and rain today and Gullane may yet shows its teeth.
Jimmy Walker, the American Ryder Cup player, is easily the most prominent of the pursuers on five-under. A resurgent Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar Rickie Fowler and defending champion Justin Rose are on four-under.
Olesen was once such a prospect that he was signed to favourable terms by Nike and spoken of in the same breath as McIlroy and Matteo Manassero.
However, successive injuries blunted his development, not least the now legendary one with the camel.
“I was with a few mates in Dubai a few years ago and we went on a safari trip,” he recalled.
“Obviously I had to get off at some point but when I did I came off and pulled a muscle in my groin.
“It was some weeks before I could walk properly again. But stuff like that happens. You’ve got to have a little bit of fun.”
A hand injury “some popping tendons” needed surgery and proved to be the most persistent injury for the 25-year-old and this was the first sign for some time that his potential could yet be realised.
“Hitting the fairways is what I’ve been struggling with,” he said. “I also hit 17 greens until the last one. We didn’t have much wind when we played so you could attack the golf course.
“I haven’t felt 100% back until now. When I came back I couldn’t practise as hard as I did before, but I can do that now and go full at it in the gym.”
McDowell’s problems that have seen him fall from a high of world No 4 to out of the top 50 have been all technical and mental, and not surprisingly he’s tried to go back to what worked for him in his best spell.
After missing the cut defending the Open de France last week, McDowell suggested a back-to-basics approach might be imminent.
The immediate result was a blistering front nine of 30, and he was only slightly annoyed by two bogeys to finish on four-under.
“I’d have taken that before going out and I’ll still take it,” said the ever-chatty Irishman. “I’ve been searching a little bit. I’ll be the first to admit that.
“There’s been a lot of technique in my head. I sat down and looked at some old swings, specifically 2010 swings.
“That was an OK year (he won the US Open so it was better than OK) so I just tried to get back to that instead of having so many thoughts.”
The other aspect is that Gullane, at least yesterday, was not the in-your-face challenge that seems to be a week-to-week occurrence on tour these days.
“The places I’ve been playing, if you’re just a little off, it gets magnified.
“I don’t want to call this course easy, because if the wind gets up it’ll be far from that, but benign conditions give you a chance for a few low numbers and to get confidence and belief back.”
Kuchar’s 66 was built on two eagles, showing just how accommodating Gullane was.
Fowler showed he had recovered from his Chambers Bay nightmare in the US Open with a bogey-free round.
From the later starters, Brooks, with his 64, and Rose and Shane Lowry both in form, both good bets for this week and next with 66s, were the main challengers.
“A pretty stress-free day,” reckoned Rose.
“I felt like I left a few out there, but it’s all part of the preparation.
“The same conditions, a 15 to 20 mile an hour wind, cool-ish, you get the feel of the bounce, how far the ball goes.
“From what I saw in practice at St Andrews, the courses are very similar in terms of how firm the are.
“From that perspective, it’s great preparation.”