Robert Karlsson will revisit the scene of one of the highlights of 2010 when he tees it up in the BMW PGA Championship next week.
The Swede set a new course record over the West Course two years ago, a nine under par 62 in the third round, a superb achievement which was made all the more remarkable by the fact he spent most of the previous night travelling to Monaco and back.
Believing he had missed the 36-hole cut, Karlsson flew back home to the principality on the Friday afternoon, only to receive a phone call a few hundred metres from his front door informing him he had made it to the weekend.
Without even saying hello to his family, he told the taxi driver to take him back to Nice airport, from where he caught a late night flight to Paris – there was nothing direct to London – and after two hours’ sleep then paid for a private jet leaving for London at 6am.
He just made his 8.55 tee time and proceeded to rack up nine birdies in a flawless round, which ultimately gave him a share of 13th place in The European Tour’s flagship event.
Now the 42 year old will attempt to better his previous best performance in the event of tied third in 2008, the year he was crowned European Number One, when he heads back to the iconic Surrey venue next week.
“Soren Hansen said to me at breakfast that morning, ‘This trip has 63 written all over it’ and I said, ‘It could be 83’,” said Karlsson.
“It was an unbelievable round and my putter was on fire that day. I’d had hardly any sleep and only just made it onto the tee in time on the Saturday morning, so to shoot 62 and set a new course record was quite unexpected.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Wenworth and trying to match that score again. I’ve had some good results in the BMW PGA Championship in the past but have never won it, so I’d love to put that right this year.
“It’s always a great week with a very strong field so I’m excited to be part of it and can’t wait to get going on Thursday.”
Karlsson, winner of the 2010 Dubai World Championship presented by DP World, has made a promising start to the season, posting top 20 finishes in the Volvo Golf Champions and the WGC-Cadillac Championship to lie 42nd in The Race to Dubai.
