He once got injured jumping off a camel so Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen can sympathize with injured World No. 1 Rory McIlroy as he set about ending a miserable run of outs in grabbing a one shot lead on the opening day of the Scottish Open at Gullane.

Olesen, 25 capped his effort with three birdies in succession near the end of his round in a seven under par 63 in bright but breezy conditions to east of Edinburgh.

The Dane arrived in Scotland having missed the halfway cut in eight of his 11 events this year including four tournaments in succession bizarrely after finishing joint runner-up in the inaugural Mauritius Open.

However after finishing second in the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Olesen again displayed his fondness for links courses.

Dane Thorbjorn Olesen  on route to a  63  to muscle his way to the top of the board on day one of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. (Photo – David Lloyd)..

“I have just been struggling to hit fairways but then I hit a lot of fairways today,” said the double Tour winner.

“But then I grew up in Denmark where we are used to playing in wind, so that kind of helps me among on links courses.

“I was ninth in the 2009 Open at Turnberry and later that year I went close to victory in the Dunhill so it showed today I can still shoot the low rounds.”

Some years ago Olesen injured his groin while jumping off a camel during a Dubai desert safari trip with friends but then found himself side-lined for some weeks recovering.

In 2013 Olesen became good friends with McIlroy when both he and McIlroy signed for sports giant Nike, and with Olesen being featured with McIlroy and then World No. 1 Tiger Woods in many Nike TV commercials.

“I can sympathize with Rory being injured and not being able to compete in next week’s Open, and while my injury was different there is nothing much you can do than just rest,” said Olesen.

“I know Rory well and I know how much he would be looking forward to next week given it is at St. Andrews so hopefully we will see him back out here soon, and it’s not only a huge blow to this tournament but to next week’s Open.”

Unfortunately the current World No. 122 ranked Olesen is not into The Open but has the chance with three places available to the leading three Scottish Open finishers inside the top-10 and not otherwise exempt.

Thorbjorn Olesen ends the first day of the 2015 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open with a one shot lead. (David Lloyd/www.golffile.ie) All photos usage must carry mandatory copyright credit (© Golffile | David Lloyd)

England’s Daniel Brooks, who ended his round in the last group of the day at 8.30pm local time, birdied the last hole to be in second on six under par.

Seven players share third place at five under par including visiting American Jimmy Walker who is no stranger to the region.

The reigning Sony Open and Texas Open champion competed in the 2013 Open Championship at nearby Muirfield and is residing this week at the Renaissance Club that adjoins Muirfield.

And after his round Walker was heading a further five miles east for a round at North Berwick, and a former Open Championship qualifying venue.

“It just feels like the West Coast of the U.S. here in this part of Scotland,” said Walker.

Among those well-placed at four under par are Walker’s visiting compatriots in Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar and a score shared by defending champion Justin Rose of England.

Former champion Phil Mickelson ended with a one under par 69.