What's in Karlsson's winning bag

Swede reveals he needs four wedges

Bob Warters

30 Nov 2010

Robert Karlsson, the new Dubai World Champion, following his dramatic play-off victory at the Jumeirah Earth Course, has revealed that he needed no less than four wedges in his bag to help him claim his title.

Playing the 18th three times successively, in order to shake off fellow Titleist ProV1x player Ian Poulter, the Swede birdied the hole on each occasion using his Titleist Vokey Spin Milled Tour-conforming (C-in-C) wedges and was never more than five feet from the final pin from distances upto 140 yards.

Such accuracy helped Karlsson, who identifies the ball with his initial RK in red, finish top of the tree for the week in putts per greens in regulation (1.63). He also holed out for eagle two from the fairway at the third hole of the final round using his Titleist MB 8-iron.

The Vokey wedges he uses have 49-, 56- and 60-degree lofts with True Temper Dynamic Gold SL shafts and are 1.25 inches longer than standard to accommodate his 6ft 5in frame and swing.

His final round 67 for a 14 under par total to match Poulter and subsequent shoot-out glory, earned him €910,348 and a share of the lucrative Race to Dubai bonus pool as well as vital World rankings points, jumping 20 places to 16th.

The former European No.1, who headed off to join his family for a well earned break in Charlotte, North Carolina, immediately after the tournament, also used the latest Titleist 910 D3 driver and two Titleist 910F fairway metals (13.5 and 19 degrees) to hit 76 per-cent of fairways and find most greens in two shots on the par-5s.

On his website Karlsson paid tribute to his Swedish coach Annchristine Lundström - one of only two women coaching top Tour players (Gregory Bourdy is the other player).

"I talked to her on Saturday morning when I was struggling before I went out. I was disappointed after shooting 75 in the second round and not in a good mood. But we had a long chat on the phone and she helped me to put things in the right perspective."