Rikard Karlberg
FullnameRikard Karlberg
Birth date1 December 1986 (age 39)
Birth placeGothenburg, Sweden
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb; 11.5 st)
ResidenceMölnlycke, Västra Götaland County, Sweden
SpousePernilla Karlberg
Yearpro2006
TourChallenge Tour
ExtourEuropean Tour
Asian Tour
Prowins8
Eurowins1
Asiawins2
Otherwins5
MastersDNP
UsopenCUT: 2010, 2013
OpenCUT: 2015, 2016, 2021
PgaCUT: 2016
Award 1Swedish Golf Tour
Order of Merit winner
Year 12007
Award 2Nordic Golf League
Order of Merit winner
Year 22007
Award 3Asian Tour
Rookie of the Year
Year 32010

Rikard Karlberg (born 1 December 1986) is a Swedish professional golfer. He won the 2015 Open d'Italia on the European Tour after winning a play-off against Martin Kaymer. He has also won twice on the Asian Tour and won the 2007 Nordic Golf League Order of Merit.

Early life and amateur career

Rikard Karlberg was born on 1 December 1986 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He represented Sweden at the 2003 European Boys' Team Championship in the Czech Republic and at the 2004 European Youths' Team Championship in Ireland.

Professional career

He turned professional in 2006. He topped the Nordic League rankings in 2007 to earn a tour card on the Challenge Tour. His best finish on the Challenge Tour was T4 at the 2008 Reale Challenge de España.

Karlberg earned his 2010 Asian Tour card through qualifying school. He won the second Asian Tour event he played, the SAIL Open.[1][2] Later in the year, he won his second Asian Tour title at the Hero Honda Indian Open.

Karlberg earned a 2015 European Tour card through qualifying school, and won the Open d'Italia during his rookie season, after holing a birdie putt on the second extra hole in a play-off against Martin Kaymer.

He finished runner-up at the 2016 BMW PGA Championship en route to a career-best 69th a month later on the Official World Golf Ranking and a season finish of 34th in the Race to Dubai.

After battling illness which forced him to step away from competitive golf, he holed a 50-foot birdie putt on the final hole of 2019 Qualifying School to earn the final European Tour card for 2020.[3]

At the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in early July, Karlberg finished runner-up, after holing a chip from the greenside rough on the 72nd hole. The achievement earned him €314,170 in prize money and a late spot at The 149th Open Championship two weeks later.[4]

Professional wins (8)

European Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
120 Sep 2015Open d'Italia−19 (67-67-68-67=269)PlayoffMartin Kaymer

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12015Open d'ItaliaMartin KaymerWon with birdie on second extra hole

Asian Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
12 Apr 2010SAIL Open−20 (65-69-68-66=268)5 strokesShiv Kapur
25 Dec 2010Hero Honda Indian Open−11 (70-69-68-70=277)2 strokesBaek Seuk-hyun

Nordic Golf League wins (4)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
119 Aug 2006PGA Landmann Open−10 (66-72-68=206)PlayoffKalle Edberg
213 May 2007St Ibb Open27 pts (9-10-8=27)2 pointsPehr Magnebrant, Fredrik Söderström
311 Aug 2007PGA Landmann Open (2)−12 (73-63-68=204)PlayoffOskar Henningsson, Olle Karlsson
414 Oct 2007Unibake Masters−21 (66-63-66=195)3 strokesBrian Akstrup, Joakim Rask

Other wins (1)

  • 2009 Stenungsund Open (Swedish Golf Ranking)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament
U.S. OpenCUTCUT
The Open ChampionshipCUTCUT
PGA ChampionshipCUT
Tournament201920202021
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open
The Open ChampionshipNTCUT

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament2016
Championship
Match Play
Invitational
ChampionsT19

"T" = Tied

Team appearances

Amateur

See also

References

  1. ^ Karlberg Seals Victory In Style
  2. ^ Classy Karlberg Seals The Deal
  3. ^ "Rikard Karlberg". European Tour. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Big finish sends Karlberg to The Open". European Tour. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Golf - Den Stora Sporten'" [Golf - the Great Sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation 100 Years. p. 201.
  6. ^ "European Youths Team Championship". European Golf Association.