Super Swede Karlsson Drives Towards Order of Merit Title
08/10/08
Having just won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Home of Golf, giant Swede Robert Karlsson was driven from the scene of his latest tour triumph in another Super Swede, the latest Volvo V70 with the European Tour Order of Merit firmly in his sights.
No Swede has even won the Harry Vardon Trophy that goes with the highest accolade on the European Tour that of the season’s leading money winner.
But with just two tournaments until the final event of the 2008 season, the final Volvo Masters at Valderrama, Karlsson has driven to the top of the pile courtesy of a dramatic sudden-death play-off in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.
Having edged-out young guns Martin Kaymer of Germany and England’s Ross Fisher courtesy of a birdie three at the first extra hole at the Home of Golf, Karlsson’s €548,812 winner’s cheque allowed him to leapfrog Harrington to take a slender Order of Merit lead of just €52,425 in the race to be European number one.
But the 29-year-old Monaco-based Swede is not overly concerning himself with the Order of Merit right now, saying, “I have already over achieved this season with two big victories, top 10 finishes in three of the four ‘majors’ and a solid Ryder Cup, and I’m not getting involved in talk of a showdown with Padraig at the Volvo Masters.”
Not out of the Order of Merit running either is 1997 Volvo Masters champion Lee Westwood, the Englishman just over €200,000 behind Harrington and, regardless of what Karlsson says, the Volvo Masters at Valderrama is perfectly poised for a dramatic end to the season.
Volvo Cars UK were the Official Car to the Alfred Dunhill Championship, with 50 courtesy cars, 15 staff cars, a Volvo Ocean Race orientated display at the main entrance to the Old Course at St Andrews and the new Volvo XC60 the star of the six-car show just off the most famous first tee in the world.
Said Lesley Milne, Sponsorship Manager for Volvo Cars UK, “This is our second year as the official car of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and it has been very high-profile with a fantastic field of golfers and a fabulous array of celebrities, and to have a Swede drive off as champion could not have been better.”
And, as one stylish Swede transported another to the airport with a huge trophy and a cheque worth €548,812, the VIP passenger Karlsson joked, “It’s been a great championship and being a proud Swede, being driven away as champion and in a Volvo is the icing on the cake.
The 21st and final Volvo Masters, offering a record US$1million first prize takes place at Club de Golf Valderrama, Andalucia, Spain from 30th October – 2nd November 2008.
www.europeantour.com / www.volvocars.co.uk / www.alfreddunhilllinks.com
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