Golf Central

Things are looking pretty sweet for us Europeans, aren't they? Robert Karlsson closed with a one-under 71 to win the Mercedez-Benz Championship at Gut Larchenhof by two over Italy's Francesco Molinari. Despite a bit of a nervy finish, Karlsson ended up thirteen-under-par, reminding us (if we needed reminding) why he'll be a forced to be reckoned with at Valhalla this week.

He may be flippin' good at golf, but he's pretty rubbish with words to be honest. 'It was really good,' said Karlsson. Michael Campbell brought the biggest smile of the day here at the IGWT office, finishing tied for third on nine-under with Ross 'thank you' Fisher and some other bloke we've got on our Ryder Cup team called Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Other names to finish strongly included Soren Hansen (another one of our lot), Martin Kaymer and Marcel Diem (all T8), with the best of our picks being Jeev Milka Singh (T11). Now bring on Valhalla...

Looks like this Swedish revolution shows no sign of stopping any time soon, as Robert Karlsson leads at the Mercedez-Benz Championship in Germany after carding a second-round 69. The Swede finds himself on eight-under, one stroke ahead of first-round leader Jean-Francois Lucquin and two shots clear of compatriot Peter Hanson in third.

Biggest movers of the day were Soren Hansen (T5) and yet another Swede, Johan Edfors (T7). Jeev Milkha Singh is the best of our picks on one-under (T17), but Stuart Appleby (T53) and Daniel Chopra (T69) may as well pack up their bags and go home.

What is it about those Frenchies and golf, eh? They're pretty good at it if truth be told, especially Jean-Francois Lucquin, who shares the first round lead at the Mercedez-Benz Championship England's Richard Finch .

Lucquin - who pipped our good mate Rory McIlroy last week - carded an opening round of 66 to put him on six-under with Finch. Other names in the fold include Robert Karlsson (3), Ross Fisher (4) and Bernhard 'we were going to put a few quid on him' Langer (T7).

The best of our picks is Jeev Milkha Singh, who's tied for 32nd on even par. Just behind Jeev is Stuart Appleby (T46) and Daniel Chopra, well, he had a corker. The bleach-haired Swede opened with a 78...

Got to feel gutted for Rory McIlroy, haven't you? Our new best buddy had a four-footer on the last to finish with a 70 and win the European Masters, but a miss there forced a playoff with France's Jean-Francois Lucquin, who posted a gutsy 67 in the final round.

The par-four 18th was used as a playoff hole and, despite a stalemate the first time around, a bogey from McIlroy all but sealed the deal for the Jean. The Frenchman had two putts for his maiden victory, but his birdie effort was only ever going one place. Lucquin battled valiantly throughout the day and his never-say-die attitude was aptly rewarded.

It was just one of those days for Rory where nothing seemed to drop, but his time will come, and we can't wait until it does. Elsewhere, Frenchie Christian Cevear, local favourite Julien Clement, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gary Orr all finished tied for third.

Things are looking pretty dandy for Rory McIlroy at the Omega European Masters after the third round. The 19-year-old posted a  66 on Saturday to take a four stroke lead into the final round... Not even Billy Android could throw away such a big lead.

McIlroy's biggest threats now, all on nine-under, are Robert Dinwiddie, some French blokes called Christian Cevaër and Jean-François Lucquin as well as Argentina's Juan Abbate. Rory laughs in the face of opposition like that...

The only one of our tips left with any sort of a shout is Ross McGowan, who's five behind Rory in tied 13th. Cambo finds himself five-under (T23) and Bradley Dredge (T44) has been a bit of a letdown, but those Welshies always are...