One of the good guys in Swedish golf is Joakim Haeggman. You will be hard put to find anyone more enthusiastic about playing the game of golf. Swedish Golf Online is a little biased about Joakim, as we have had the pleasure of witnessing that passion first hand. We were in the same group with Haeggman at a casual scramble event. Not only was he sociable, but his patience with the amateurs he played with (like me) was greatly appreciated. He was as excited about a good shot as any of we golfers are. He was generous with his time and his stories and anecdotes of the Tour life. Knowing this man is a pleasure indeed.

He has played on the tour for over 20 years. He is as one of three Swedish players who have won the Scandinavian Masters. He has won on the Challenge Tour and the Asian Tour. But now, Joakim Haeggman, is reaching the back side of his career as he formulates plans for his future. His tour status has been uncertain for some time. Is it time to take a new road?  He doesn't know, but he is clear about one objective: he will play full time on the European Tour again.

In 2008, Haeggman spent a year on the Challenge Tour, but that is something he will not go back to. The car travel to events on bad golf courses, with little prize money and no audience was not working for him. He felt no "buzz" so it is no longer an option. Now, it's all or nothing.
"I want to come back and play golf at the Tour level. Otherwise,for my part,this may be it," he says. When you go out on the driving range in the morning and realize that half of the players could be my kids. No, it's not for me.

The player from Kalmar, Sweden has just logged his third round at the Scandinavian Masters out on a windy Bro Hof and he is not very happy with his round. Still, he's happy to play the contest and is looking forward to Sunday's round. Although he is far down the leader board, Haeggman knows that as a former winner of the tournament, he has some allure to attract an audience even though he starts playing early in the morning. It is on the Big Tour that he needs to be.

"I'll play damn well in the qualifiers in the autumn, so I will be back on tour again. Maybe I should qualify for the U.S. tour this fall, as well.

What if the the qualifying route doesn't work out, what then?

"I don't know. I have still a number of competitions on the European Tour that I get to play. So, I must decide if I can let it go or not."

After suffering an injury, he is now in great physical shape. Or as great a shape one who is 40 plus can be after playing golf at the highest level for over 20 years. He laughed a bit at the position he and friends such as Jesper Parnevik and Per Ulrik Johansson are now in.

"We have been playing for some years now, and it is beginning to affect us. This spring, it was a broken vertebra in Jesper's back and the synovial fluid leaked into the buttocks and the sciatic nerve. I got so-called foot drop, and walked around like a pensioner. But I'm back to me, again.

The health is only temporary,he well knows. The question is how long can the body go?

"The problem is that it breaks down in the gym. It breaks when you practice. A drive bends the bones in the back. You jump wrong and there goes a calf muscle."

But right now he is feeling good about everything and now will pay some Challenge Tour Races this fall to tune-up  the game before European Tour qualifying. And qualifying for the U.S. Tour? 

We'll let you know.

Edited from the original story in Golf.se by Karin Klarström

Swedish Golf Online has been inside the ropes for the first two days of the Scandinavian Masters, and as a take off of the old joke, "Boy! Are our legs tired!"

We have been assisting with the telecast as a TV spotter, which has given us an upfront and semi-personal look at how the players and caddies interact with each other as well with their fellow competitors. Interestingly, there is a relation between the caddies and the TV coverage, which is not apparent when you watch the telecast on TV.

What does a spotter do? In a nutshell, he is the on the ground eyes for the TV production team. He is assigned a group, or a player to watch and to keep track of his shots, and to alert the truck when anything unusual or eventful happens.
At the end of each hole's play, you also send in your score to see if it jibes with the official score.

You can be called off at a moment's notice to follow someone hot, and hopefully your group stays in the hunt. You can always tell if your player is being featured because there will be a ground camera following you.

Yesterday's best moment for me, was the triple attempt of José Manual Lara's caddy to get his rain pants off. For some reason he was trying to get them over his golf shoes without unzipping the ankles. Finally, on the third attempt, José unzipped the ankles, and the caddy removed his shoes, and perseverance triumphed.

Much has been said about the Bro Hof golf course over the years and two things have proven to be correct. The first is that it is long. That is true (take it from the TV Spotter), in fact, to most of the caddies I have talked to and some of the players, the comment has been, "It's too long!"

I followed Dustin Johnson, the big hitter from the United States on Thursday. In benign weather conditions, he overpowered the the course, tee to green and putted well enough to go five under. On Friday, the wind was up, cooling temperatures and scores, and Johnson went one over.

The second comment, and this is unanimous, is the condition of the course. If there is such a thing as a perfect condition, Bro Hof is pretty close. No one has complained about the conditions, and the greens have been given particular praise. They may be hard to putt because of the undulations, but they never bounce or go awry by the surface. They are truly amazing.

The only one who handled the course well yesterday is our leader, KJ Choi. The Korean, who can hit it big and can handle wind, got to minus 10 before going into the clubhouse at 9 under.

Of course, earlier in the week, all eyes were on Choi on the putting green to watch him practice the side saddle putting stroke. To these eyes, he was struggling, and I saw no consistency in his putting stroke. Tuesday afternoon, he abandoned the club and went back to his regular putter. After the first two rounds, he is in the lead.

At his Friday press conference, when asked about the return to the regular stroke, he said that he hadn't abandoned the side saddle, but would work on it gradually over the next few months. If he wins this week, after struggling with the making cuts at the two previous events using the side saddle, you wonder if he will.

Robert S. Johnson, from Sweden is in second place using a Swedish radio and print humorist for his caddy. Obviously begun as a human interest angle, will Johnson risk a win to keep up the commitment? And if he does, and wins, will golfers become like Chuck Berry in rock, and find a local back up to carry the load?

Somehow, I doubt that.