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Robert Karlsson the Golfer Robert’s first connection with golf was at the age of six when his father took a job as a green keeper at the Katrineholms GK. A promotion for his father to head green keeper when Robert was eight started his promotion up the ranks of golf. At this time the family moved to live on Katrineholms GK allowing Robert the freedom of the course which he grabbed practicing or playing most days. This was helped when the club decided to rebuild the fifth hole and Robert all of a sudden had a practice green really close to his home to practice on. Robert won the Swedish Boys Championship at sixteen which got him in to the Swedish Boys team from the age of sixteen then through to the juniors team until he turned Pro at the age of 21. He was part of the team that won the European Junior Championship and came third representing the Swedish boys in their European Championship. In 1990 he decided against the traditional route favored by most Swedes who went to play on the US College circuit and turned Pro to play on the Swedish tour. At the end of that year he made the trip to Tour school where he won his card and has been on the European Tour ever since. Twenty years later he has 11 European Tour wins and in total 83 top ten finishes in European Tour events. He was the winner of the European Tour order of merit in 2008, the only Swede to ever have won this, the same year he won the World Cup for Sweden partnering Henrik Stenson. 2008 was a great year for Robert, he recorded 9 consecutive top 10s which included the 3 Majors. He has played in 2 Ryder Cups in 2006 (Europe’s biggest win ever) & 08, 5 World Cups and 4 Seve Trophies. He finished the 2010 season by winning the 2010 Dubai World Championship. His highest official World Golf ranking so far is 6th in October 2008. |
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Robert Karlsson's Career Timeline
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2011 I became a member on the US PGA tour – as a 41 year old “rookie”. There was quite a lot of change for my family in readjusting to our new home in North Carolina, USA, and I can say that we all enjoy being here. My best tournament of the year was tied fourth in US PGA Championship in Atlanta. |
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2010 I was surprised and very happy to find out that Henrik Stenson and I were elected Team of the Year after having won the World Cup in 2008 and coming second in 2009. Two good wins this year - first one in Qatar at the beginning of the season. It felt good to be back again after the previous years eye condition. The second win was at the end of the season, my greatest individual win, the Dubai World Championship. During Fall we relocated from Europe to North Carolina. |
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2009 I was elected Male Athlete of the year at the Swedish Sports Gala - a great honor, but also a challenge for me, who previously have been so afraid of speaking in front of people. It was a live televised gala event that several millions would watch, in addition to the people at the gala. My coach and I took it as an opportunity to practice a speech in case I was going to win. It was a new experience and a great feeling to deliver the speech and to receive the price. I really grew as a person. |
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2008 I was eighth in Augusta, fourth in US Open, seventh in The Open Championship and 20th at the US PGA. I was part of the Ryder Cup team once more – a great experience this time too, even though we lost the trophy. I ended up being number one in Europe winning the Order of Merit as the first Swede ever to do so. I enjoyed two individual wins - the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews and the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne, Germany. What was really great was that I also had the opportunity to be part of a winning team. Henrik Stenson and I won the World Cup for Sweden in China at the end of the year. So in other words I experienced a lot of icing on the cake this year. |
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2007 The success of the previous year opened up new challenges and new expectations to overcome. Also, at the end of the year I met Mark Blackburn, my swing coach for the first time, at the US PGA. I had a solid end to the season. |
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2006 A year of great growth and breakthrough that led to the icing on the cake; it took the form of two individual wins and my first Ryder Cup. I will never forget the feeling and the atmosphere, walking up to the first tee. |
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2005 This year was a huge turning point for me. All the work that was done during previous years with my coach allowed me to start to access more of my potential. I finished 3rd in the Alfred Dunhill at St Andrews. It was the first time that I played well on a links golf course for a long time - I had not made the cut in the British Open since 1992. By finishing in the top three I proved to myself that it was possible to play well on links courses as well. |
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2004 A year of lot´s of hard work and struggles with focus on breaking old patterns and I learned a lot about myself that year. On the personal side our son Ceasar was born. |
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2003 I started working with my coach Annchristine Lundstrom in the beginning of the year and my focus on and off the golf course changed quite drastically in a good way. I made a conscious choice to start working on my personal leadership in life. I got a taste of playing freer golf at the end of the summer. In November my wife and I got married. |
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2002 Being a father to our first child was both wonderful and challenging. I often felt that I was in the wrong place - when I was at home, I felt that I needed to practice more and when I was on tour, I felt I should be at home. So even though I had some god results, it was a tough year. I won the Omega European Masters. |
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2001 This year I won in Spain, the Via Digital Open de Espana and came second in the British Masters and Qatar Masters. Our first child, our daughter Thea is born. |
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1999 This year I won the Belgacom Open. |
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1997 Won the BMW international in Munich, best year so far in my career with six top ten finishes. I finished tenth on the Order of Merit in Europe. |
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1995 I won my first tournament on the European Tour, the Turespana Open Mediterrania – it was a great experience. |
| 1993 My best tournament this year was the Mercedes German Masters, where I was second and the Moroccan Open where I was forth. |
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| 1992 This was a great year. I was 22nd in the Order of Merit. My top finishes were second in the Morocco Open, third in Jersey, eighth in Cannes, fifth in the British Open and second at the GA European Open where I played the last day with Nick Faldo – it was a great experience. |
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| 1991 My first year on the European Tour I finished 62 on the Order of Merit. My best finishes were third in the Scandinavian Masters and fifth in the Renault Belgian Open. |
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| 1990 Exciting year when I won the Tour school for the Swedish Golf Tour, when I just had turned pro. I finished top ten in the first three tournaments on the Swedish Golf Tour. At the end of the year, I finished 29th in the Tour school and got my card on the European Tour. |
