The golfing world was sent into a frenzy in April when Tiger Woods strolled onto the first tee at the Masters and dispelled fears that he might not pick up a club again.
It was an unlikely comeback for fans and fellow players to relish, and something that Rikard Karlberg has some experience of himself.
The Swede’s career has been a rollercoaster in recent years after an infection led to a difficult 18 months away from the game before he made a remarkable return in 2019.
In 2017, the 35-year-old suffered mental and physical stress and was bedridden for six months before doctors told him he was depressed.
Over two years on from bouncing back, Karlberg gave Sportsmail a revealing insight into his journey back to the tour, his new attitude towards the game and his dramatic return to a major last year.
DP World Tour golfer Rikard Karlberg’s career has been a rollercoaster in recent years
‘It started with a flu symptom,’ he explained. ‘If that came from Lyme disease or if it was just because I was burning out it’s hard to say. It came a little bit out of nowhere.
‘I felt it a bit a few years before when I had been working hard but now it reached another level. It was like living with the flu for about six months.’
Karlberg saw a Swedish doctor who had worked with athletes in the past and underwent tests but claimed he still didn’t feel stressed out at that point, believing he was used to handling pressure.
However, he admitted the frustration at his situation ultimately wore him down and he finally listened to the doctors.
Karlberg gave Sportsmail a revealing insight into his journey back to the tour two years on
He said: ‘After six months of not getting out of bed and you have a wife and two kids and so on, you get so frustrated. You start to think is this the life I’m going to live with?
‘And I got to the point of “okay doctor I’ll listen to you now”.’
Karlberg tried natural medicine and changed his diet but did not see any improvement, before eventually being prescribed anti-depressants.
He revealed the medication helped him get back on track but insisted it was still a tough, long journey back to swinging a club.
‘It was my way out because I started to feel a little bit of energy pretty quickly,’ he said.
‘But it also came with a price of panic attacks and things like that. So it was a tough time, but then at least I started to feel energy again. I started to get rid of the flu symptoms. And when I did that, I thought it will go quite quick, now we’re on the right track.
‘But it still took me over a year from that point to when I was actually back in business to compete again.
Karlberg, pictured with his wife, revealed after six months he grew frustrated of not getting out of bed
The Swede revealed medication helped but insisted it was still a long journey back to golf
‘However, at that point I wouldn’t say I was 100 per cent but it was at a point where I felt I needed it was time to come back. And it was hard for me to say, am I ready or not?
‘Looking back on it, maybe I should have waited a half year, but you have to have a goal.
‘You have to have a direction you in a situation like that. So, you feel you have a routine in your day to go forward. But it took a long time to come back 100 per cent.’
Karlberg believes the experience was ultimately a positive one as it changed his mindset to become kinder to himself.
He believed hard work would help him come out the other end of the tunnel but by burning out he said he realised he needed to give himself a break.
‘I went from lying in bed for six months and basically just hoping I get the energy to do normal stuff again,’ he said.
After burning out the professional golfer said he realised he needed to give himself a break
Karlberg believes his experience was ultimately a positive one because it changed his mindset
‘Then I started to feel a bit better and I could see that it was going in the right direction and all of a sudden my head was going back to my dream and the sport again. Then it’s easy to step on the gas.
‘It was good for me, this process of seeing what was wrong of me burning out. Also learning routines and recovery and a mental positivity of being kind to myself, how to handle stress and so on. But it’s been a journey to definitely come back to where I am.’
Golf is a mentally demanding sport with players needing to be mentally tough in addition to being physically competitive to play their way into contention.
The 35-year-old insisted he is now better equipped to handle the mental challenges of golf
The World No 529 believes his experience has had both a positive and negative impact on his mental attitude towards his game since he made his comeback.
He revealed he is now better equipped to find a more relaxed state out on the course but believes he needs to balance it out if he wants to find himself in contention again.
‘It has to be both positive and negative for me,’ he said. ‘In the beginning it was more positive because I felt more relaxed when I play. I didn’t put that much pressure on me.
‘But I still want to get back up to the next level. I want to play majors. I want to win again on the DP World Tour.
‘The funniest thing is the last one and a half years, when I’ve been ready to try to take the next step, to get at least back or trying to get into top 50 in the world, I’ve actually gone the other way.
‘Now I can see I need to balance those styles. To feel when I should be relaxed and not be too relaxed. To have the right state of mind on the golf course. Because I feel a bit at the moment I’ve been a little bit too meditative.’
Karlberg also credited feeling good mentally to his outwards confidence, saying: ‘Whether you like it or not, your appearance helps to build self-confidence and I feel confident when I’m wearing Lyle & Scott on the course. ‘
Karlberg also credited feeling good mentally to ‘wearing Lyle & Scott on the course’
The Lyle & Scott ambassador did make his return to a major last year when he sealed his place at the 2021 Open in dramatic fashion.
He arrived at the Irish Open last year without a worldwide top-10 in two years and having missed the cut in eight of his previous starts but rolled back the years to produce his best European Tour finish in five years.
Following birdies at the 15th and 17th, he made an unlikely chip-in from off the final green to finish second and earn one of the three qualifying spots for the Open at the event.
But ironically, the moment was of little significance to him.
‘After what I had been going through, it was a bonus,’ he said. ‘To be honest with you, I didn’t really care.
‘To know that I have your job back for full-time the next year and with a family of small kids I can plan again, plan ahead. Those things were so, so much more important for me.
‘I was just trying to hopefully find a way to play good golf again, and find a level where I at least getting my card for the year after and all of a sudden I’m playing a major.
Karlberg claimed his first major back since his return was just ‘the cherry on the cake’
‘So my head was not really there. I was exhausted after that week and the Scottish Open went so quick. I was barely really practicing and my head was all of a sudden at the Open.
‘Playing a major from out of nowhere was the cherry on the cake.’
Karlberg admitted more could be done within the sport to help players deal with the stress and fatigue of life on tour, claiming more breaks between tournaments could go a long way towards easing the pressure.
But he insisted that the responsibility could not be placed on the shoulders of individuals within the game.
‘I think there should be more natural breaks,’ he said. ‘That’s kind of down to television because we’re selling television rights to produce a certain amount of tournaments.
‘But it has to do with both our healths [mental and physical]. I think you would see less injuries.
‘I also think it is for the viewers and the quality of the sport. In Sweden, we say the cow’s milk is starting to end. There’s no drop left to squeeze out.
He believes there should be more breaks on tour to help players’ physical and mental health
‘I thought I was probably the first professional sportsman taking an anti-depressant – and I was not.
‘I think it’s a little bit, for us in sports, taboo. I think if there was more awareness for it would be nice.
‘But it’s so, so hard to put that on someone or say you should have more awareness.
‘I think everything comes to the price of business and then it always comes down the pressure I put on myself.’
Golf witnessed another spectacular return this year as comeback king Woods played the Masters just 14 months after his horrific car crash last year and Karlberg admitted it was special to see the 15-time major winner play Augusta again.
Tiger Woods made a comeback of his own when he returned to play the Masters in April
He said: ‘Of course you watch Tiger! I remember the first time I watched golf on TV was him winning the 1997 Masters. And to see him doing what he’s done, the guy can’t even walk, so it’s so cool.
‘I think his comeback shows if you really work hard in the right way then the recovery is part of hard work.’
The sport is currently trapped in the ongoing debate surrounding the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series and it appears it is just as inescapable for the stars of the DP World Tour.
Karlberg revealed the breakaway tour is dominating the players’ conversations just as much as it is in the headlines.
He admitted he can see the reasoning behind top players being swayed from the beaten track but insisted the series was not beneficial for the growth of the game, slamming it for detracting from the promotion of equality between the men’s and women’s games.
Karlberg revealed the breakaway LIV series is dominating the players’ conversations too
‘It’s a hot topic for everyone now and we talk about it a lot,’ he revealed. ‘But we don’t know a lot. I think some people are a bit ashamed maybe to actually say, especially the top guys.
‘It feels like for me it’s a bit like if you play in the Premier League and you’re starting to go down a little bit, you go to India or China and you’re getting s***loads of money. And I can understand that and I think 99 per cent of people in the world would do the same.
‘But for the sake of golf, do we need more tournaments? I don’t think so. For example to say that it is for the sake of growing the game – no it’s not. It’s definitely not.
‘When you’re thinking of putting a big event at the same time we’re playing the Scandinavian Mixed in Sweden for the purpose of equality between men and women on the DP World Tour – that’s not growing the game.’
Karlberg could see the appeal of the LIV Series but remained committed to the DP World Tour
However, Karlberg insisted that organisations should not be held back from setting up their own global tours just because others already exist but did admit that for now he wouldn’t be lured away.
‘They’re doing this to get the top 40 to 48 guys in the world,’ he said. ‘They don’t want Rikard Karlberg. They just need someone to fill it up, to make it happen.
‘I would go there and make some easy money, but I would also get kicked down again for the better players.
‘So, I’m committed to the DP World Tour. I think it’s a great tour.
‘We’ll see where it [the LIV] ends up but at the moment I’m not going to benefit from it in the long run.’
Rikard Karlberg was speaking to Sportsmail for the launch of Lyle & Scott’s new SS22 Golf Range.
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