Robert

Karlsson

On a difficult day – indeed it was statistically the toughest day in the history of the tournament – the Swede was magnificent in scratching 15 pars and ticking three birdies in his opening lap. The 50-year-old will be eligible for senior golf when the Staysure Tour starts later in the calendar year, but if he plays like this he’ll happily remain at this level. He opened on the back nine, made eight pars and then ticked the 18th. On the front nine circled the fifth and seventh. The 11-time winner trails the first round leader Thomas Pieters by two strokes and is part of the 12-way tie for third.

The tall Swedish 11-time European Tour winner is closing in on his debut in the senior ranks, but it is now nine years since he last won at ET level and how much would he like to taste that success again? On this Saturday he gave himself a great shot at an unlikely win, making up for two bogeys (at the third and 11th) with birdies at the fourth, sixth, 12th, 13th and 15th, plus an eagle-3 at the ninth. Nor is he an entire novice at contending across the Albatross Golf Club in Prague because back in 2016 he was third at halfway, sixth at this stage and finished seventh. Vastly experienced, he has been two swings back of the lead nine times in the 21st century, but only once (2010 Qatar Masters) has he claimed the win from such a situation. He shares third with Edoardo Molinari, Hugo Leon and Rikard Karlberg.

The World. 659 had a rocky spell during his first lap when swallowing three straight bogeys but sprinkled eight birdies to claim T10. With scoring tougher in round two, he found another five birdies but dropped just a single shot (8). His red numbers came in an early burst at 2, 3 and 4 while he also ticked 12 and 17 on his back nine. His lowly world ranking and four missed cuts in the last five tournaments suggest this would have been hard to predict but there were some clues. Karlsson was T27 in the Irish Open two starts ago and on his course debut at Albatross in 2016 he posted tied seventh. The Swede has been in the top two at the midpoint in three of his last 48 starts: his final results from there have been mixed (45-3-17) so it’s hard to assess if he can keep this going.

The Swede is 16 starts into the 2019 season and he has made the money exactly half the time, but he is still seeking a first top 20 and sits at a lowly 142nd on the Race to Dubai. His best finishes are T25 in the Maybank Championship and T27 in the Irish Open two starts ago, a first cut made in four starts. He’s played this tournament twice. The first time in 2016 he carded 68-70-71-71 to finish the week T7, but 12 months later he missed the cut after recording two laps of 76. In the last three seasons he has managed only one top ten from 60 starts.

The Swede added top tens in 1999 and 2003 although he’s missed his last three cuts there (2010, 2015 and 2017). That’s all in tune with his general career path over that time period although he’s still capable of some decent golf and has cashed in four of his last six starts. Also third in this event at Gut Larchenhof in Cologne in 2016, Karlsson opened with 66 at last month’s British Masters although fell down the leaderboard to tied 58th. However, a closing 64 gave him a top 25 at the Maybank Championship while he fired a Sunday 65 at the Qatar Masters (T62). Four-round consistency is a problem but he could be a worthwhile cheap option.

The Swede sits three back from leader Matthew Jordan of England. Karlsson has had notable success in this event down the years, finishing runner-up in 2001 and also taking third at Close House in 2017 when holding the 54-hole lead. He’s also flashed some form on the European Tour in recent weeks, posting T25 at the Maybank Championship and looking on track for something much better at the Indian Open before falling from fifth to tied 45th after a closing 83. Today, he set the tone with a pair of par breakers at 10 and 11 before adding another at 15. Karlsson also signed for three birdies on his second nine, ticking 2, 7 and 8 to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place. He’ll play in the second group out from the 1st tee on Friday morning.

The Swedish veteran opened his Saturday circuit with five pars before his Moving Day threatened to go irreversibly backwards with double bogey-6, bogey-5 at 6 and 7. He refused to be bowed and bounced back with back-to-back birdies, but again hurt his cause with further dropped shots at the tenth and 14th. However he made full use of the 631-yard par-5 15th (birdie) and yet was still seven shots back of then-solo leader Julian Suri stood on the 18th tee at DLF G&CC’s Player Course. He watched Suri find water and then launch a superb tee shot of his own which he backed up with a stunning long iron to 15’0". The eagle putt came up inches short, but his birdie and Suri’s double bogey give him a sniff on Sunday. He is chasing a first win since 2010 and a first top five since October 2017.

The big Swede is making his course debut on DLF G&CC’s Player Course, but he seems at home there. He entered the week without a European Tour top ten since October 2017, but he had ended his last two tournaments with final rounds of 65 and 64. On Friday he made four birdies, at the first and eighth on the front nine and 17th and 18th on the back nine, but also a pair of bogeys at the 12th and 14th. More notable, however, was the eagle-3 he collected at the 570-yard par-5 fourth – it was his third eagle on the front nine this week. He’s chasing a first win since the 2010 DP World Tour Championship.

That flying finish at DLF G&CC lifted the Swede to T2 and just a single shot back from leader Stephen Gallacher. Karlsson had just six pars today. On his outward nine he outpaced bogeys at 12 and 16 with red numbers at 11, 14, 15 and 17. The veteran looked to have undone that good work with bogeys at 1, 3 and 4 to drop back to +1 for his round but he birdied the sixth and then made a dramatic jump with eagles at 7 and 8 to get within one. Karlsson has shot a 64 and a 65 in his last two closing rounds on the European Tour but was a long way back each time. If he can stay near the lead this week, Karlsson could have a legitimate shot at a first Euro Tour win since 2010.