Robert Karlsson

Robert Karlsson (born 3 September 1969) is a Swedish professional golfer who has played on the European Tour and the PGA Tour.

Karlsson was born in Katrineholm, Sweden where his father was a greenskeeper at the local golf club. He turned professional in 1989 and qualified for membership of the European Tour at the 1990 Qualifying School. Since then he has retained his card and has had a steady career on tour, the highlight of which came in 2008 when he won the Order of Merit. He has finished in the top twenty of the Order of Merit seven times throughout his career and has won eleven events on tour.

At the 2006 Celtic Manor Wales Open, Karlsson broke the European Tour's 36 hole and 54 hole scoring records by shooting 124 for the first two rounds and 189 for the first three. However as the course was a par 69, which is rare at the top level, his to-par scores were less remarkable 14 under after two rounds and 18 under after three.

Karlsson's second victory of 2006 at the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe in July helped him reach the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings and in 2008 he entered the top 25. His win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship took him to number 8 in October 2008. A T3 finish at the Portugal Masters two weeks later took him to number 6. He has spent over 25 weeks in the top-10 since 2008.

Karlsson was a member of the Continental Europe team in the Seve Trophy in 2000, 2002 and 2007. In 1999 he was eleventh on the Ryder Cup qualifying table just missing out on the last automatic place, and was not selected as a captain's pick. He made his Ryder Cup debut in 2006, at the age of 37, along with fellow Swede Henrik Stenson. He played again in 2008, forming a partnership with Pádraig Harrington in the foursomes and beating Justin Leonard 5 & 3 in the singles on Sunday.

After a strong finish to the season, Karlsson won the Order of Merit in 2008, being the first Swedish golfer to do so. Because the name of the money list changes to the "Race to Dubai" beginning with the 2009 season, it was the final "Order of Merit" win. This achievement, among other things, resulted in him winning Swedish male athlete of the year at the Swedish Sports Gala in January 2009, also a Swedish male golfer first.

Karlsson is one of the tallest golfers on the European Tour at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Like many leading Swedish golfers he lives outside his home country, basing himself in the tax haven of Monaco.

In June 2009, Karlsson suffered from an eye injury, with no depth-perception in his left eye. It occurred during the week of the St. Jude Classic, the week before the U.S. Open, which Karlsson was set to play in, teeing off in the first round with fellow Swede Henrik Stenson. The eye injury caused Karlsson to withdraw from the event and he missed most of the rest of the 2009 season. He returned for The Vivendi Trophy toward the end of the season, and completed his recovery by claiming his tenth Tour title at the 2010 Commercialbank Qatar Masters the following January. In June, Karlsson lost in a sudden death playoff to Lee Westwood at the St. Jude Classic. In 2011, Karlsson was again in a playoff at the St. Jude Classic, where he lost to long-suffering veteran Harrison Frazar.

Karlsson is a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

Karlsson is known as "The Scientist" for his contemplative and analytical style of play.

European Tour wins (11)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	26 Feb 1995	Turespana Open Mediterrania	−12 (64-69-71-72=276)	3 strokes	Anders Forsbrand, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Jarmo Sandelin, Sam Torrance
2	31 Aug 1997	BMW International Open	−24 (67-67-64-66=264)	Playoff	Carl Watts
3	24 Oct 1999	Belgacom Open	−12 (69-68-69-66=272)	1 stroke	Retief Goosen, Jamie Spence
4	22 Apr 2001	Via Digital Open de España	−11 (68-68-71-70=277)	2 strokes	Jean-François Remésy
5	8 Sep 2002	Omega European Masters	−14 (65-66-68-71=270)	4 strokes	Trevor Immelman, Paul Lawrie
6	4 Jun 2006	Celtic Manor Wales Open	−16 (61-63-65-71=260)	3 strokes	Paul Broadhurst
7	30 Jul 2006	Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe	−25 (64-66-66-67=263)	4 strokes	Charl Schwartzel, Lee Westwood
8	14 Sep 2008	Mercedes-Benz Championship	−13 (67-69-68-71=275)	2 strokes	Francesco Molinari
9	5 Oct 2008	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	−10 (67-70-76-65=278)	Playoff	Ross Fisher, Martin Kaymer
10	31 Jan 2010	Commercialbank Qatar Masters	−15 (68-70-70-65=273)	3 strokes	Álvaro Quirós
11	28 Nov 2010	Dubai World Championship	−14 (65-75-67-67=274)	Playoff	Ian Poulter

European Tour playoff record (3–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1992	Moroccan Open	David Gilford	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
2	1997	BMW International Open	Carl Watts	Won with par on third extra hole
3	2001	Victor Chandler British Masters	Mathias Gronberg, David Howell Thomas Levet	Levet won with birdie on third extra hole Karlsson and Howell eliminated with par on first hole
4	2006	EnterCard Scandinavian Masters	Marc Warren	Lost to par on second extra hole
5	2008	Alfred Dunhill Links Championship	Ross Fisher, Martin Kaymer	Won with birdie on first extra hole
6	2010	Dubai World Championship	Ian Poulter	Won with birdie on second extra hole

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2010	St. Jude Classic	Robert Garrigus, Lee Westwood	Westwood won with birdie on fourth extra hole Garrigus eliminated with par on first hole
2	2011	FedEx St. Jude Classic	Harrison Frazar	Lost to par on third extra hole

Other wins (1)

• 2008 Omega Mission Hills World Cup (with Henrik Stenson)

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2010 Masters – 2011 U.S. Open)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2008 Masters – 2008 Open Championship)

1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

• Dunhill Cup (representing Sweden): 1992
• Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2007, 2009
• World Cup (representing Sweden): 2001, 2007, 2008 (winners), 2009, 2011
• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2006 (winners), 2008
• Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2007 (winners), 2010 (winners)