Kjeldsen's bad days behind him

Soren Kjeldsen had a subtle message for his British Open rivals after bulldozing through the pack to fire a 67 in the first round on Thursday: "Don't count me out."

The Dane's 4-under effort pushed the world No 50 within four strokes of leader Phil Mickelson, leaving him happy in the knowledge that his all-round game is back to where he wants it to be after a brief spell of difficulty.

"The last 18 months were really good and then I played poorly at last month's US Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio," Kjeldsen said.