By Peter Townson/Doha
Robert Karlsson: defending champion
As the Commercialbank Masters tees off tomorrow morning, golf fans in Doha will have their eyes on defending champion, Robert Karlsson to see whether he can once again show the form that secured him the title in last year’s edition of the tournament.
Competing against a strong field including some of the best golfers in the world, Karlsson will have to be at his best to repeat his 2010 heroics, but following a strong performance in Bahrain last week, the Swede will surely be the one to watch at the Doha Golf Club.
Gulf Times spoke to the 2008 Order of Merit winner to find out how he is feeling ahead of the tournament and what it is that inspires him in his personal and professional life.
“It’s always great to come back to Doha, I definitely like the golf course and it’s always presented in a fantastic condition,” he said, adding “everything here in Qatar is first class – everything is very well run.’
This year’s tournament represents a different challenge for the 2010 winner, but he is keen to push any thoughts of last year’s victory to the back of his mind.
“When you walk up the 18th hole the memories of last year will spring to mind, but apart from that, one of the focuses when I play is to leave whatever has happened before behind me,” he explained, “it doesn’t matter whether its good or bad, it’s very easy to let what happened before affect you, so I will try to put everything behind me and start a new tournament on Thursday.”
Karlsson referred to the growth of the Qatar Masters since its inception in 1998, describing the tournament as a major feature of the European tour, attracting some of the best golfers in the world.
However, this makes the task of defending his title something of a daunting prospect.
“You just have to look at the world rankings to see who is dangerous,” he said of the field, mentioning Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Steve Stricker as some of the major challengers.
Explaining that Gulf events have continued to increase in popularity year on year, tournaments in the region provide “the perfect start to the season,” according to Karlsson, who also expressed his excitement at the prospect of the World Cup coming to Qatar in 2022.
Off the course, Karlsson is a dedicated family man with two young children, and he is also passionate about charity work which he performs through his own foundation.
“It provides another inspiration – if I am not doing very well in a tournament, I know that holing a few extra putts will enable me to help people a little bit more,” he explained.
Although careful to keep his feet on the ground, Karlsson is feeling good about his golf at the moment, having recovered from an eye injury that ruined his 2009 season and off the back of a good start to this year.
“Coming back from an injury takes a long time, and getting the body in shape for tournaments took longer than I was hoping,” he explained referring to the eye injury which severely affected his depth perception in 2009, “but I am back now and very happy with the way things are going.”
“It’s important for me to not put any high hopes on next week or month or year - here and now I just focus on whatever I’m doing,” he added.
A fantastic ambassador for his sport and his country, Karlsson is a local favourite after his consistently strong performances in Doha, and fans will be hoping that the mild-mannered Swede will once again be in the hunt for the trophy as Sunday afternoon approaches.