Karlsson makes flying start
Robert Karlsson was today carrying on from where he left off last week to remind Paul Casey and David Howell the fight to win the Order of Merit is far from a two-way battle.
Casey has an £80,000 (€118,600) lead over Ryder Cup team-mate David Howell with three events remaining, but fellow European team members Karlsson, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie are among those still in with a chance of topping the standings.
Karlsson trails Casey by £250,000 (€270,700), but the first prize in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is £427,000 (€633,300) and Karlsson made the perfect start to his opening round this morning.
Starting from the 10th tee at Kingsbarns, the 6ft 5in Swede opened with two birdies to lie one shot off the early lead held by Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, who was three under par after five holes at St Andrews.
Karlsson was only 21st at last week’s American Express World Championship event in Watford but finished in style with a final round of 64 at The Grove.
The pro-am event sees each of the 168 professionals teamed up with an amateur partner.
The teams play one round at each of the courses – St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns – over the first three days before the top 60 professionals and those tied for 60th place, together with the top 20 teams, compete in Sunday’s final round.
