Ryder Cup captain Bjorn pleased with form shown by European players last week

Thomas Bjorn woke up in Abu Dhabi on Monday morning feeling pretty good about life.

The Dane had played well at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, presented by EGA, and finished in a tie for 30th.

It came exactly a week after he passed his first test as European captain, when Bjorn led his team to victory in the EurAsia Cup in Malaysia.

Come Monday, his captain’s hat was firmly back on. As Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for France later this year, Bjorn had already delighted in Tommy Fleetwood’s superb win in the UAE capital the previous day. But Sergio Garcia had won, too. Jon Rahm, as well.

It was a welcome reminder of the depth of talent at Bjorn’s disposal.

“When you wake up on Monday morning and Sergio has won in Singapore and Tommy has won in Abu Dhabi and Jon has won on the PGA Tour, you can’t help but thinking European golf is in very good hands right now,” Bjorn said yesterday, ahead of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. “There are some great players.”

Not only did Fleetwood impress in Abu Dhabi, but so too Ross Fisher and Thomas Pieters – the pair shared the 54-hole lead before finishing second and tied-fifth, respectively – while Rory McIlroy announced his return to competitive golf with a tied-third.

The four-time major champion looked refreshed after an injury-enforced three-and-a-half month lay-off, both mentally and physically.

“We make a lot out of Rory and we talk a lot about him,” Bjorn said. “He’s a wonderful golfer and he obviously struggled with his injuries last year.

“I had a good chat with him at [November’s] DP World Tour Championship and I saw him last week. And to see him fit and healthy and desperate to play golf, that’s how you want to see him. In that position, he’s very dangerous as a golfer, that’s for sure.”

Bjorn understands the threat posed by the United States in the Ryder Cup. The Americans won 17-11 at Hazeltine 15 months ago and have captured the three most recent major titles also. “You look at what 12 you’ve got to be up against and American golf is also in great hands,” Bjorn conceded.

But, still, the current crop in Europe must bode well.

:You know as well as I do that the golfing world moves and it goes like a yo-yo, people go upand-down. Where it leaves us at that time, we’ll see.

“But where we are right now, I feel like there’s a lot of good things to build on for a lot of these players.”