Robert Karlsson, Sweden


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Swedish professional Robert Karlsson has enjoyed a long and successful golfing career that dates all the way back to 1989 and - with 11 European Tour titles up his sleeve - the competitor is acknowledged among some of the biggest stars in the sporting world.

One of his more notable victories - of which his first came at the Turespana Open Mediterrania against world number 51 Miguel Angel Jimenez - was the Dubai World Championship 2010, where he saw off competition from Englishman Ian Poulter in a play-off round.

During the competition, both finalists enjoyed a birdie in the first shot of the nail-biting clinch before the colourful Brit saw his luck come to an end, as the ball caught the edge of his "lucky" platinum coin that caused it to flip and incur a one-shot penalty for the removal of the marker.

Karlsson then managed to earn the £776,000 winner's cheque due to being only four feet from the hole in three, which saw him storm to the top of the leader board.

"It's disappointing when you're standing there and you've hit a poor third shot and you've got 30 feet," commented Poulter after his near-miss. "Yes, you're a little bit flustered standing over it, but I still had a chance to hole it. I shouldn't drop my ball on my coin I guess."

Born in Katrineholm, Sweden in 1969, Karlsson's father was a green-keeper at the local golf club - which was among the reasons he was enamoured with the sport from an early age.

He turned professional in 1989 and qualified for the European Tour the following year at Qualifying School, enjoying a strong and steady career in many competitions ever since - including his biggest achievement of winning the Order of Merit in 2008.

In 2006, Karlsson - who came in fourth place during last year's PGA Championship - broke the organisation's 36-hole and 54-hole scoring cards by shooting 124 for the opening two rounds at the Celtic Manor Wales Open.

His achievements did not stop there, as his second victory in 2006 came at the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe in July - the tournament that helped him reach the top 50 of the official world rankings before reaching the highest 25 two years later.

More recently, Karlsson lost out to world number three Lee Westwood by three and two at the WGC-Accenture Match Play event in Arizona - which saw the Englishman go up against Nick Watney in the following round.

Career Wins
2010 – Dubai World Championship / Commercial Qatar Masters
2008 – Alfred Dunhill Championship / Mercedes-Benz Championship / Omega Mission Hill World Cup
2006 – The Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe / The Celtic manor Wales Open
2002 – Omega European Masters
2001 – Via Digital Open de Espana
1999 – Belgacom Open
1997 – BMW International Open
1995 – Turespana Open Mediterrania

Robert Karlsson Videos

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