Titleist Golf Bags 2008
Winning Ways Of Robert Karlsson
Equipment
The first thing is in his bag, there is a good set of golf clubs, he use the brand of Titleist, they are not cheap golf clubs, they are the clubs fit him best.
Stats
If a player ranks fourth for Greens in Regulation and third for both putting categories, then he is going to be pretty hard to beat.
He also completed every sand save he attempted and only 13 players who made the cut hit the ball further from the tee box. Little wonder he was such a tough opponent to crack.
Driving Accuracy is one interesting stat in Doha. Before the event started, Kenny Perry echoed many when he said: “Literally, this golf course is all about driving it in the fairway. The guy that does well this week will probably be the guy that hits the most fairways.”
Add in the new groove regulations which are designed to place added emphasis on driving accuracy and the fact that the gnarly rough was enough to have some players complaining about tough lies, you’d think the top players must have hit lots of fairways.
Turning point
There are two, the first came on the 14th hole when the event was transformed from a five player shootout into a head-to-head between Robert Karlsson and Lee Westwood; then, two holes later, that head to head was decided.
To deal with the 14th first, Karlsson and Westwood teed off with Bradley Dredge in close attendance and Brett Rumford and Alvaro Quiros a little further back.
Both players found the fairway and then proceeded to hit their approaches to ten and three feet. Westwood holed his longer birdie putt first and Karlsson followed him.
Unbeknown to them Dredge was recording a double bogey as they did so, and the others were struggling to break par – it was now a head to head between Europe’s number one ranked players in 2008 and 2009.
At just over 300 yards it is an apparently straightforward birdie opportunity but it proved it had teeth when the two leaders played it.
Westwood hit an errant drive, failed to pitch close from the rough and then three-putted the grainy green; Karlsson’s one shot advantage had been doubled, granting him the freedom to hit his tee shot close on the par-three 17th, more or less confirming the win there and then.
Insight
This is an important key. After Wednesday’s Pro-am Ian Poulter tweeted, “Good day folks, just finished Pro-am in Qatar, wind was blowing 35MPH, course nearly unplayable, same tomorrow, scoring will be brutal.”
And so it proved as the morning starters struggled to break 70 – with one exception. Karlsson’s four-under par 68 didn’t give him the round one lead but his round was the lowest of those playing in the worst conditions and allowed him to stay in the event. He added two 70s before completing his tournament with a best of the week 65 that swept him to a three-shot victory.
Words
Everyone has his own words, this is his words, “It was definitely tough, because I was hoping I had not lost that much, but being out for such a long time, the form was harder when I actually started playing.
“It was hard to not get down on myself. I played poorly and it definitely felt tough.” At the end of November, his fortunes began to improve: “At Hong Kong I showed some signs, and going to Japan, playing really well there was very important. “And then to keep building on that in the World Cup with Henrik was great, then I steadily moved on from there.”
About the Author
Adam Scott and Titleist 909 Driver