Robert Karlsson's preparation for the Ryder Cup could not have gone any better as he secured his first European Tour title in two years at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne. After holding a three shot overnight lead the Swede needed just a 71 to take the winners cheque but he was pushed all the way by Francesco Molinari of Italy, who carded a 70 to finish two shots behind on 11-under-par.
New Zealander Michael Campbell joined Ross Fisher and Miguel Aangel Jimenez in a tie for third, with the latter also showing form with a final round 66 ahead of his trip to Valhalla with Nick Faldo's European team.
Ryder Cup debutant Graeme McDowell shot a 71 to finish best of the Irish on two under. The Scottish Open champion was two ahead of Darren Clarke who maintained an encouraging end to the tournament with a second 69.
Paul McGinley and Damien McGrane finished four over, while Peter Lawrie was nine over after a 75.
Karlsson had been six clear at one stage but Molinari birdied four holes in a row from the 12th and the Swede bogeyed the 16th to see his lead cut to just two.
Molinari then left a birdie putt on the 17th agonisingly short of the hole and missed another birdie chance on the last as Karlsson held his nerve to claim the €320,000 first prize.
"Hopefully Nick will be delighted," said Karlsson after an eighth European Tour title lifted him to second on the Order of Merit. "It was a pretty good result for all of us."
Karlsson had not won since the Deutsche Bank Championship, also in Germany, in 2006, but qualified for his second Ryder Cup on the back of nine top-10 finishes this season — including eighth in the US Masters, fourth in the US Open and seventh in the Open.
"It's very nice to win, a great relief and it would have felt a bit strange not to win this season because I've been playing so well," he added. "It got closer than necessary maybe but I felt there was not much more I could do. All credit to Francesco, he played fantastic the last eight or nine holes.
"I just tried to do my own thing but it's not easy when he is holing putts from 40ft, but in the end it was enough."
Jimenez's final round of 66 was the best of the day and the 44-year-old said: "I'm playing very solid, especially yesterday and today I holed some more putts
and it's a nice combination. I feel good and feel like I can make a score and that's a very good feeling.
"I wouldn't mind playing as much as I can next week."
It remains to be seen how often the rookies like Soren Hansen and McDowell feature at Valhalla, but Hansen looks a good bet for the fourballs on Friday afternoon after finishing eighth.
"Twenty birdies but 20 bogeys was it?" he joked. "It was either really fun or a disaster. I've never played a tournament where I have made so many birdies and threw in a few eagles as well.
"I played very good but made a lot of clumsy mistakes to be honest. If I can eliminate those I am right there and hopefully they will be eliminated next week. Birdies in match play are fantastic so if I can keep this going it will be good fun but it's different circumstances next week.
"I am relaxed as I can be, it's obviously going to be very exciting. It's like a dream come true.
McDowell, expected to partner double Open champion Padraig Harrington at some stage next week, added: "It's been hard the last few weeks to think about anything else but next week.
"It's been in the forefront of my mind but I feel as though I am taking my game out there pretty much intact so there is nothing really to worry about.
"It's going to be an exciting few days and there is going to be a lot going on. All I am looking forward to right now is seeing my golf bag with my name on it. I've always dreamed of representing Europe in the Ryder Cup and here we go.
"I think it is going to be a pretty even match-up and we have the firepower to give them a good run and maybe bring the trophy home again."
