Karlsson is Lord of the Manor in Wales

Robert Karlsson was installed as Lord of the Manor after capturing his sixth European Tour title at The Celtic Manor Resort. For a long time it was not quite the stately procession that the tall Swede might have expected, but ultimately none of his rivals could summon up a challenge to his authority and Karlsson ran out a worthy winner of The Celtic Manor Wales Open.

Having set new records for 36 and 54 holes, Karlsson was confidently expected to obliterate The European Tour’s all-time low score of 258, set by a pair of Welshmen, Ian Woosnam and David Llewellyn some years ago. In the end he missed out by two shot, finishing on a 16 under par total of 260, leaving some Welsh pride intact at the end of a week in which Karlsson took apart the par 69 Roman Road course.

Karlsson had competed in precisely 100 tournaments since the last of his five victories in the Omega European Masters almost four years ago. But after that unfruitful century, the Swede was in no mood to add to his barren spell, shooting rounds of 61 and 63 for a record halfway total of 124, and adding a third round 65 to set another landmark figure of 189 for 54 holes. Before Karlsson, no-one had shot below 190 in a Tour event.

Despite a couple of wobbles early in the back nine, Karlsson kept the field at bay and he now heads to the US Open Qualifer at Walton Heath on Monday with renewed confidence. A strong burst of birdies at the 13^th, 15^th and 16^th steadied the ship after Portugal’s José-Filipe Lima had set the clubhouse target of 264, and the victory march on the Roman Road was completed without too much stress.

He allowed himself the luxury of a pair of closing bogeys and still won by four shots from England’s  Paul Broadhurst, who birdied the 16^th and 18^th to shoot a 68 for outright second place ahead of Lima on 263.

Karlsson moved up to 12^th place on The European Tour Order of Merit with €634,879 after collecting the first prize of €364,352. Additionally, the man who missed out on automatic qualification for The 1999 Ryder Cup by one spot, moved up to ninth on The Ryder Cup European Points List with 915,519.

The 6ft 5in Swede admitted: “When I saw the leaderboard on the 17^th I had a big smile on my face. It was trickier out there today with the wind and all of a sudden the greens didn’t seem so big. It was hard being so far in front and spending each evening trying not to think too much about it. It’s too easy to get ahead of yourself.”

Karlsson revealed that he owed a big debt of gratitude to a female Swedish ‘life coach’, Annchristene Lundström, for the role she has played in transforming his career of late.

“I wouldn’t call her a mental coach. She has never played golf and is not a trained psychologist. She helps with how I approach my life and I am now a lot happier with my relationships on and off the course and with myself.”

Broadhurst, who moved to seventh on The Ryder Cup European Points List, played a superb approach to the final green and sank the short birdie putt to pip Lima for second place.

“That was a big putt” he conceded. “There is a bit difference between second and third and I wanted to be second on my own. Someone needed to put Robert under pressure but nobody did. He deserved to win. He just had to stand up to win, really.”

Lima, meanwhile, was basking in the reflected glory of securing the largest cheque of his career after firing a last round 62 for a 12 under par total of 264 and outright third place. The colourful Portuguese player carded seven birdies, thanks for a putting tip earlier in the week from the defending champion, Miguel Angel Jiménez.

“Miguel told me to feel the putts more and try to imagine the path to the hole” he explained. “He said I am young and too quick and that I have to slow down and take my time. I think it worked for me today.”