Karlsson cruising towards win in Cologne

Robert Karlsson was today cruising towards a first victory in two years and the perfect Ryder Cup warm-up in the Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Karlsson began the day with a three-stroke lead after being handed a one-shot penalty at the end of his third round yesterday, when he grounded his putter as his ball moved fractionally on the second green.

The 6ft 5in Swede accepted the penalty immediately and clearly had not let the incident affect him as he moved further clear of the field approaching the halfway point of the final round.

A birdie from five feet on the first instantly extended his lead to four strokes before bogeys at the third and fourth cut his advantage to two shots.

However, Karlsson responded in the perfect fashion with a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth to improve to 14 under par, five ahead of England’s Richard Finch.

There was more good news for Europe captain Nick Faldo with another team member, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, moving up to a share of fourth place on six under after covering the front nine in 33.