Karlsson hits course-record 63

Sweden’s Robert Karlsson continued where he left off on Sunday to storm through the field in the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters today.

Karlsson won the Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship in Hamburg last week to move into seventh place in the Ryder Cup standings with just a month to go before the team is finalised.

The 36-year-old only made the cut with a shot to spare in Malmo after rounds of 75 and 69, but carded a course-record 63 at Barseback this morning to set the clubhouse target at nine under par.

“I didn’t feel it on Sunday as everything went very smoothly in Germany but when I got here I was definitely quite tired,” admitted Karlsson, who would seal his place in the European side for the K Club with his third victory of the season on Sunday.

“I made a mistake in coming to the course on Tuesday and playing nine holes. I should have come and done the interviews and collect my equipment but not go on the course which was probably a waste of time.

“I paid for that on Thursday; I played okay and possibly could have got away with one or two under but my chipping and putting was appalling. Yesterday my putting wasn’t great but today it all came together.

“It was a tougher day today (in the wind) and I really enjoyed it. There have been a few times this year I have really got it going like the first round last week and in Wales, and today I hit some fantastic shots.

“All of a sudden it is a different tournament.”

After a birdie at the second was cancelled out by a bogey on the third, Karlsson birdied four of his next six holes to go to the turn in 32.

A bogey on the 11th briefly halted his charge but that was promptly followed by an eagle on the 12th and birdies on the 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th to set a testing target.

Sheffield’s Mark Roe and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts shared the overnight lead and remained 10 under after four holes, both players recording one birdie and one bogey.

A gusting wind was making scoring tricky for the later starters but and Scotland’s Marc Warren was off to a nightmare start, the former Walker Cup star dropping three shots in the first two holes to slump to five under.