Karlsson smashes Barseback record
Sweden’s Robert Karlsson is on target for back-to-back victories and a certain place in the Ryder Cup after a brilliant performance in the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters.
Karlsson won the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship in Hamburg last week to move into seventh place in the standings with just a month to go before the team is finalised.
And the 36-year-old is on course to complete the job on home soil on Sunday after storming through the field with a course-record 63 in the third round in Malmo.
Karlsson started down in a share of 45th place, having made the cut with just one shot to spare after rounds of 75 and 69, but fired nine birdies and an eagle at Barseback to set a clubhouse target of nine under par which was never overtaken.
Sheffield’s Mark Roe and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts held the overnight lead at 10 under but Roe slumped to a 75 to finish seven under while Colsaerts recorded a 73 to share the lead with Karlsson.
Former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin is alone in third on eight under with England’s David Carter, Scotland’s Marc Warren and Swede Peter Gustafsson alongside Roe on seven under.
“I didn’t feel it on Sunday as everything went very smoothly in Germany, but when I got here I was definitely quite tired,” admitted Karlsson, who also won the Wales Open earlier this season.
“I made a mistake in coming to the course on Tuesday and playing nine holes. I should have come and done the interviews and collected my equipment but not gone on the course which was probably a waste of time.
“I paid for that on Thursday – I played okay and possibly could have got away with one or two under but my chipping and putting was appalling. Yesterday my putting wasn’t great but today it all came together.
“It was a tougher day today (in the wind) and I really enjoyed it. There have been a few times this year I have really got it going like the first round last week and in Wales, and today I hit some fantastic shots.
“All of a sudden it is a different tournament.”
After a birdie at the second was cancelled out by a bogey on the third, Karlsson birdied four of his next six holes to go to the turn in 32.
A bogey on the 11th briefly halted his charge but that was promptly followed by an eagle on the 12th and birdies on the 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th to set a testing target which was never beaten as a gusting wind made life difficult for the later starters.
“It was tough out there,” admitted Carter, who won the World Cup with Nick Faldo in 1998 in New Zealand. “I don’t know which course Robert was playing but I thought he had missed some holes out!
“The wind was much stronger and swirling and I struggled a bit but finished well. On the 16th I hit a great five-iron to 10 feet and on the 17th I got lucky. I pushed my tee shot but had a shot through the trees and managed to hit the green and hole the putt.”
Colsaerts has yet to win on the European Tour despite several good chances, most notably in the Johnnie Walker Championship last year when he blew a two-shot lead in the final round with a closing 75.
“I’ve learnt I need to just play to 60 or 70% of my ability,” said the 23-year-old from Brussels. “Sometimes I feel I have pushed too hard in the final round but it’s hard for me not to play my normal game and be aggressive.”
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