Sebastian Soderberg is hoping a return to home soil for this week’s Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson can help inspire a return to the early-season form that took him to the top of the Road to Oman.
The Swede won the season-opening Barclays Kenya Open and contended strongly in both the Challenge de Madrid and the Turkish Airlines Challenge, but struggles of late have dropped him to 12th spot in the Rankings.
The 25 year old, however, arrives at Katrineholms GK showing glimpses of his best form following a closing 65 in the Tayto Northern Ireland Open presented by Ulster Bank and he is heartened both to be back in his homeland and by the recent Swedish successes, following wins for Alexander Bjӧrk and Simon Forsstrom.
“I’m excited for this week, it’s always fun to play at home,” he said. “I played here on the Nordic League two years ago so I don’t remember it too well, but I got a few rounds in at least.
“I played really well up until the middle of May but I feel like I’ve been struggling a bit this last month and a half.
“I haven’t been able to find my flow really and I’ve had a few missed cuts. I haven’t been able to shoot some really low scores but I had a good final round in Northern Ireland so I think it’s on the way up.
“My short game was absolutely perfect. I honestly didn’t strike it that well or putt that well, but I got the ball in play off the tee and made a lot of up-and-downs, and chipped in twice – it could have been a lot lower if I’d holed some of the putts.
“The struggle has been driving and the putter has been streaky, but hopefully that can turn around this week as well.
“I definitely think it’s good for Swedish golf to see that Sweden’s making a mark on the map in some way, and having three winners on the Challenge Tour this year is great as well.
“Whenever someone wins that you’re friends with or playing a lot with, you get some motivation from it, and I think it’s important to see the positives in someone else winning.”
June presented Soderberg with a welcome and exciting distraction in the form of a Major Championship debut after he came through a five-man, five-hole play-off to earn a spot in the US Open Championship.
And a maiden experience among the world’s elite at Oakmont has added further motivation, both for further Major appearances and for the second half of the Challenge Tour season.
“I think it was a good first Major experience,” he said. “I didn’t play my best but I played decent and I wasn’t too far away from making the cut, so I definitely felt that gave some validation that I’m heading the right way.
“Coming straight to Scotland after the US Open, I was more hungry and motivated than ever and I was just really excited to play golf – it sucked staying in there Saturday and Sunday practising because more than anything I wanted to play the weekend.
“It’s definitely a good boost and it gives a lot of motivation going forward – I can’t wait to go back and play in four of those every year, hopefully soon.
“The biggest six events of the season are at the end of the year so that’s what it’s all going to come down to so you’ve got to put yourself in a good position for that.
“My plan all year has been to prepare for those six weeks as well as possible because you’re playing for twice the prize money every week – obviously you could secure a spot earlier than that but this year it seems to be tougher than before because it’s very tight in the top 25, no-one’s won more than once.
“It’s definitely going to be tight coming in so I’m just going to try my best to stay focused on my game.”
