No fewer than four Major Champions descend on the Swedish capital of Stockholm this week when the Scandinavian Masters takes place at the Arlandastad Golf Course.
Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, the last European to win a Major prior to Padraig Harrington’s success at Carnoustie last month, is joined by an illustrious trio of Americans in John Daly, Corey Pavin and Jeff Sluman, who are all making rare appearances on The European Tour International Schedule.
Daly, the US PGA Champion in 1991 and Open Champion in 1995; Pavin, the 1995 US Open Champion; and Sluman, the 1988 US PGA Champion, will challenge for the title being defended by Scotland’s Marc Warren. There were due to be four American Major winners in the field but Tom Lehman withdrew on the eve of the event suffering from a wrist injury.
The remaining trio will be hoping to emulate fellow Americans who have enjoyed success and created an impressive history in this tournament, as, in the forerunner to the Scandinavia Masters – the Scandinavian Enterprises Open – George Burns, Bob Byman, twice, and Craig Stadler, all triumphed.
Daly, who challenged strongly in last week’s US PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, has been a regular visitor to Europe over the years and won the BMW International Open in Munich to set alongside his 1995 Open Championship victory at St Andrews, while Lehman collected the Scottish Open the year after winning The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Pavin, who acted as Lehman’s Vice Captain at The K Club, has been a more infrequent visitor to European shores, but played in Sweden in 1983, when he was third in the Scandinavia Open and won the German Open that same year. Sluman, in his sole official European Tour appearance outside the Majors to date, finished tied third at the Scandinavian Masters in 2002.
Returning to Sweden as defending champion is Warren, who captured his maiden European Tour title in 2006 when he beat home favourite Robert Karlsson in a play-off, after the pair had tied on ten under par 278 at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club in Malmo. Karlsson aims to go one better this time around, having finished tied 57th in last week’s US PGA Championship.
Ryder Cup player Karlsson leads a strong home challenge at Arlandastad, where he is joined by the most recent Swedish winner on The European Tour International Schedule, Per-Ulrik Johansson, who cruised to victory in The Russian Open Golf Championship in Moscow.
Neither Karlsson or Johansson have won their national title before, but the only two Swedish golfers who have tasted success are in the field – namely Joakim Haeggman (1997) and Jesper Parnevik (1995 and 1998) - while Swedish Tour winners Johan Edfors, Christopher Hanell, Peter Hanson, Peter Hedblom, Michael Jonzon, Jarmo Sandelin and Patrik Sjoland all seek a Scandinavian Masters title on their CVs.
