“The Big Swede,” Robert Karlsson, gave himself and the European team the perfect boost ahead of this week’s Ryder Cup by claiming his first victory in two years at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. Karlsson began the final day with a three stroke lead and carded a closing 1-under 71 at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof in Germany for a two shot victory. Karlsson now moves into second place on the European Tour Order of Merit.
For Karlsson, who wore some sweet red croc print Classics and a StaSof glove, it was the first victory since he won the 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship, also in Germany, and it was a victory richly deserved after he qualified for his second Ryder Cup on the strength of nine top ten finishes this season - including eighth in the Masters, fourth in the US Open and seventh in The Open Championship.
“It’s very nice to win, a great relief and it would have felt a bit strange not to win this season because I’ve been playing so well,” he added.
