Karlsson’s merit rise
ROBERT KARLSSON refused to let personal sentiment get in his way as he won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship yesterday to set up a thrilling end-of-season battle with Padraig Harrington for the right to be called Europe’s No1 player.
Swede Karlsson’s victory over England’s Ross Fisher and the rising young German Martin Kaymer in a play-off, after he birdied the first extra hole at St Andrews, took him to the top of the European money list.[>
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He now leads Harrington by close to £110,000 and while Open and US PGA champion Harrington takes a long-awaited break before the issue is resolved at the Volvo Masters in Valderrama at the end of the month, Karlsson intends to play again at the Portuguese Masters next week.[>
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And with another £380,000 first prize in his sights at Vilamoura after back-to-back wins in Scotland and at the German Masters, Karlsson is now favourite to take the title.[>
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“I would still rate Padraig’s year higher than mine – if you have won two Majors there is no doubt who has had the better year,” said Karlsson, who has had 10 top-10 finishes this season. “But now I’ve got him.”[>
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And while the calmness Karlsson showed in sinking his winning 3ft putt might suggest he is the archetypal ice-cold Swede, before venturing out to the play-off he showed a human touch, so rare in modern-day professional sportsmen.[>
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Tied at 10 under with Kaymer and Fisher, who blew his play-off chances by driving into the Swilcan Burn, he would have been equally happy had Kaymer been handed the £433,000 winner’s cheque.[>
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The pair are management stablemates and Karlsson helped revive Kaymer’s spirits after the mid-summer death of his mother and subsequent loss of form which saw him miss out on a Ryder Cup debut after finishing 11th in the qualifying table.[>
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“Martin deserved to win this,” said Karlsson. “We are good friends and he has had a tough time with his mother passing away from cancer.” Fisher, 27, also narrowly missed playing at Valhalla when his form dropped off after his victory in the European Open at The London Club. But after making play-offs in both the BMW and the Links Championship, Wentworth’s Fisher must be a good bet to play at Celtic Manor in 2010.[>
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Going into the final round at St Andrews only two shots off the lead, Harrington had been the overnight favourite to win yesterday but he failed to recover from a bogey at his opening hole and a one-under-par 71 saw him fall back into joint 13th.[>
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He was not even the top Irishman in the field. That honour went to teenager Rory McIlroy, who shot a 67 to climb into eighth.[>
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The pro-am section of the Links tournament was won by South African computer magnate Bruce Watson who, with Karlsson as his partner, produced a better-ball score of 27 under par.[>
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• IAN POULTER threw away the lead over the final three holes and had to settle for second place in the Korea Open. He bogeyed the 16th and 18th to finish on 10 under, one shot behind home favourite Bae Sang-moon. “I came here to win but I’m going home second so I’m not very happy,” he said.[>
