Robert Karlsson is rightly the toast of Swedish golf after becoming the first Swede to win the European Tour’s Order of Merit.
Great news for Sweden. Bad news for those of us of Scottish persuasion.
Karlsson’s accomplishment is testament to what a country of similar size to Scotland can do in a relatively short period of time.
Thirty years ago there were only two Swedes playing the European Tour. Gunnar Mueller blazed the trail by finishing 137th on the 1978 money list. Compatriot Mikael Krantz finished a distant 232nd. That same year 23 Scots were listed on the European Tour money list, with 11 finishing inside the top 100.
This year, Karlsson was one of 13 Swedes in the top 100 on the money list compared to just six Scots. Things get even worse in the Official World Golf Ranking. There are seven Swedes inside the top 100, and no Scots. Alastair Forsyth is the highest player from the Home of Golf at 102nd in the world. Colin Montgomerie is 115th.
Karlsson is the highest-ranked Swede. He is the sixth best player in the world.
The Swedish production line has been pumping out talented players ever since Mueller and Krantz featured on the 1978 European Tour. By 1988, the Swedes had nearly caught up to the Scots.
Sweden had 17 players on the 1988 tour. Anders Forsbrand led the Swedish contingent by finishing 22nd on the money list that year. Scotland had 18 players. Sandy Lyle’s fifth place ranking made him the top Scot.
By 1998, Sweden had left the Home of Golf in its wake. There were 27 Swedes to just 15 Scots. Patrik Sjoland led the Swedes by finishing fifth on the money list as Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie won his sixth straight Order of Merit title.
Thanks to Montgomerie, Scotland has had representation in the upper echelons of golf for the past 20 years. Although Paul Lawrie captured the 1999 Open Championship, Scotland’s only major since Lyle’s Masters win in 1988, there hasn’t been much behind Monty to leave Scottish fans smiling.
Indeed, Montgomerie’s slide down the world rankings has only reinforced Scotland’s deficiencies. There seems to be no one coming through to take his place.
Sweden, on the other hand, seems to have an embarrassment of riches. There were 35 Swedes on the final 2008 European Order of Merit compared to 23 Scots. On the Challenge Tour, Sweden outdid Scotland 24-13.
It shouldn’t be this way. The Scottish Golf Union goes out if its way to nurture elite Scottish amateurs. You’ll find the best Scottish amateurs playing almost a full international schedule thanks to SGU funding. For example, Scotland has just won the World Amateur Team Championship, with Sweden taking third.
There is no Swedish system per se, despite what has been written in the past. That’s why there is only one Swede in the top 100 of the Golfweek-Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking compared to five Scots.
Yet as we’ve seen time and again, Scottish success at the amateur level doesn’t necessarily translate into professional glory. Remember Gordon Sherry? Lloyd Saltman? Sherry never made it, and Saltman is still trying nearly four years after finishing top amateur in the 2005 Open Championship.
The difference lies in the respective cultures of both countries. I still maintain that kids are encouraged in Sweden while they are merely tolerated at many Scottish golf clubs. That’s if they are allowed in at all. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club, Royal Troon and Muirfield, the three biggest clubs in the country, don’t have junior sections. That’s scandalous! These are the very clubs that should be setting an example for the rest.
Winning the World Amateur Team Championship could be more of a curse than a blessing for the Home of Golf. It may foster the notion that Scotland is on the right track. It isn’t. Clubs need to do much more to encourage youngsters. They need to follow the Swedish example and make children feel welcome.
If Scotland needed another wake up call, then it came in this year’s Ryder Cup. Two Swedes, Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, played for Europe, while there were no Scots on the team for the first time since 1938.
All that’s missing for Sweden is a men’s major. Given that I’m a betting man, I’ll wager a wee 5 pound note – a bet I’ll be happy to lose – that a Swede wins one of the game’s four marquee events before a Scot does.
Don’t be surprised if it’s Karlsson. Expect even better things from him over the next few years.
I wonder if he has any Scottish ancestry.
Posted: 11/4/2008
print
email
discuss
