“No matter what happens I have proved I am going in the right direction and I’m still a force to be reckoned with,” said Bjorn after sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the last for a 68 and 10 under par total of 206.

“Winning is not going to make up for last week, though. Nothing will until I win a major – as simple as that.”

After opening with a course record 64 Bjorn felt drained in the second round and managed only a 74. But a nine-hour sleep when he got back to his hotel room re-charged his batteries and he had no fewer than eight birdies to close a four-shot gap.

As much as he would love to have a trophy in his hands so quickly after the events of Sandwich, it would mean more to both Lynn and Campbell.

Lynn, who scored a 72 after taking a one-shot lead into the day, is chasing his first European tour title.

Campbell has won 13 times in his career, but has just had to suffer a nightmare time on the American tour.

“It would be a huge weight off my shoulders,” said the 34-year-old, whose record in the States this season almost defies belief for a player who began the year as the world’s 18th best player.

In nine stroke play events he missed every single cut and in the Accenture world match play championship he suffered a first round exit.

The situation reached its nadir in March after he hurt his shoulder moving luggage.

He took 10 on the first hole of the Bay Hill Invitational, the tournament in which he finished second to Tiger Woods last year, and retired two holes later, then at the Players Championship slumped to an 89 and was disqualified for signing for a wrong score.

It was after that round that he came out with one of the year’s most graphic sporting quotes.

“It’s like an alien has taken over my body,” he said.

Eventually the decision was made to abort the mission and return to Europe.

“The hardest thing was spending 12 weeks on the road. Never again,” he states firmly. “The kids got really, really ratty and it was very unsettling to be travelling that length of time with them, two nannies and my wife.

“Being a creature of comfort, coming back to Europe seemed to turn my whole game around again. We kept our place in Brighton and coming back felt like coming home.

“The US tour is brutal, relentless. There’s a nice feeling of more freedom in Europe.

“There’s more intensity in the States. The money they play for is just ridiculous and so obviously they are maybe trying that bit harder and are a bit more money-orientated. It’s definitely cut-throat.

“When I was struggling over there I didn’t really notice people coming up to me on the range and saying much. Nick Price did, but he’s always been great to me. I had to rely on my family and friends to come through it.

“Now I’m looking forward to climbing back to where I think I belong.”

Every golf follower knows how good he can be. At 26 Campbell led the 1995 Open at St Andrews by three with a round to play and missed the play-off between John Daly and Costantino Rocca by one shot.

He was fifth on the Order of Merit that season, fourth in 2000 – after a serious wrist injury which he feared would end his career – and eighth last year, a campaign highlighted by his victory in the European Open at the K Club.

Now, at Portmarnock, he is gunning for his first win since then. And one that would taste so sweet after all that he has been through.