Determination to succeed and better himself has always been a feature of Fredrik Jacobson’s life. Aged ten, he picked up his first set of golf clubs, was given a handicap of 40, and set himself the target of getting down to single figures; within five years, he had surpassed that and was a scratch player.
Therefore when he stood on the threshold of The 2003 European Tour International Schedule with a sizeable wish list, it was no surprise that each and every item revealed something more about his burgeoning ambition as a professional golfer.
“At the start of the year, I wanted to make the top 50 in the world,” said the 29 year Swede. “I also wanted to be in the top 15 in Europe, have two wins and score under 63.”
Come the end of the season, just as in his formative years, each and every one had been eclipsed in considerable style.
Prior to his maiden victory in the Omega Hong Kong Open he was 107th on the Official World Golf Ranking. After adding the Algarve Open de Portugal in April - following a ten week lay-off with a wrist injury - he came to the Volvo Masters Andalucia in 41st position. By winning it in dramatic fashion at Club de Golf Valderrama, Jacobson leapt to 19th.
As far as the Volvo Order of Merit was concerned, the achievement was just as meritorious. After ending the 2002 campaign in 30th place, his triumph in southern Spain saw him sweep to fourth place behind Ernie Els, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington with hugely impressive winnings of 1,521,302 euro (£1,060,666). Terrific company to keep indeed.
In the process, he also carved himself a niche in golf’s record books. Not only did his fourth place finish on the Volvo Order of Merit equal the highest placed finish by a Swedish player in the history of The European Tour, namely Anders Forsbrand’s fourth place finish in 1992, his trio of successes, eclipsing the target of two he had set, saw him become the first Swedish golfer to win three official events in the same season.
All that was left was the desire to post his lowest round as a professional, his previous best being the eight under par 63 he carded in the 2000 Murphy’s Irish Open and which he matched with a six under par 63 on his way to victory in Hong Kong.
Not only did Jacobson better the mark, he smashed his personal best with a stunning performance in the opening round of the Linde German Masters at Gut Lärchenhof in September, ten birdies and an eagle seeing him become only the tenth player in history to score 60 in official European Tour competition.
The next target for the Swede is Major Championship success and the former ice hockey player broke the ice in spectacular fashion in his debut in the US Open Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in June where he tied for fifth. A month later and a tie for sixth place in the 132nd Open Golf Championship at Royal St George’s suggested that his next wish could be about to be attained too.
Not a bad year’s work, all in all, for someone who had waited 161 events for his first victory and had six runners-up finishes along the way. But, boy, how he had to work for his third title.
The record books will show that he became the first wire-to-wire winner in the history of the Volvo Masters Andalucia. But there was abundant drama before he added his name to the illustrious list of winners of an event open to the leading 60 on the 2003 Volvo Order of Merit.
From the time Jacobson and the gallant Spaniard Carlos Rodiles occupied first and second place at the halfway stage, the contest for the main spoils developed into an intriguing and exhilarating head-to-head battle between the pair.
Not that theirs was the only performance of note. Far from it. Before the thrilling denouement, the final round was illuminated by Brian Davis whose closing 66 was the best score of the day, elevating the 29 year old Englishman to third place, and bringing a thoroughly satisfying end to a season which yielded 11 top ten finishes in total, including four in a row from mid March to mid May.
As Davis finished out his tournament, in the match behind, the leading duo approached Valderrama’s final two holes, the Swede one stroke in front of his Spanish rival. However a double bogey seven for Jacobson at the 17th, after his pitch rolled back into the water, allied to Rodiles’s birdie four produced a three shot swing.
Two ahead with one to play is never safe at Valderrama, however, especially when your opponent produces the shot of the tournament. With Rodiles in the trees and on his way to a bogey five, Jacobson ensured extra time with a majestic nine iron from 151 yards to two feet for a brilliant birdie three.
Having played the last 54 holes in regulation together, the pair set off in tandem for even more, Rodiles making his debut in the nerve-wracking realm of the play-off, while Jacobson’s two previous experiences - in the 1998 Belgacom Open and The 2002 Barclays Scottish Open - had both ended in defeat.
Someone had to win a play-off for the first time and in the end it was Jacobson, at the fourth extra hole, but only after a titanic struggle which saw Rodiles, who was supported by his fellow European Tour colleague and Malaga resident Miguel Angel Jiménez amongst the huge galleries, have putts to win at each of the first three holes, only to agonise as the ball stayed above ground on each occasion.
With the light beginning to fade and memories echoing of 12 months earlier when Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie shared the title after dusk put an end to their extra time tussle, Jacobson made the vital breakthrough.
Back on the 18th tee for the fifth time in the day, Rodiles pushed his drive into the trees from where he could do no better than a bogey five. It left Jacobson, in the middle of the green in regulation, with two putts for the title and he wisely took them both.
Mark Garrod
