Robert Karlsson has proven his critics wrong with a consistent all-round performance this year to secure his Merit win.

But that is exactly where he is now and, with an impressive second Ryder Cup cap to his name too, it should surprise nobody if next year sees him become the first Swede to win a major title.

Not only has Karlsson played some of the best golf of his life to succeed Justin Rose as winner of the Order of Merit, but at 39 he has the experience to handle the disappointments that are part and parcel of every sportsman's life.

Even Tiger Woods and Lewis Hamilton.

Back in May, Karlsson three-putted from three feet on the final hole of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

The first putt was to get into a play-off, while missing the second as well meant he finished only joint third. As mess-ups go it was a big one.

But, far from it leaving lasting scars, a week later Karlsson fired a closing 64 to be runner-up in the Wales Open and two weeks after that he was fourth in the US Open.

He is prepared to admit that he was far too hard on himself earlier in his career and changing his attitude has been key.

"I've been working a lot on getting more relaxed," he said. "I used to put so much pressure on myself.

"I felt like the more I practised the better I got, but the worse I played on the course. And that was like, 'well, if I can't play any good now there's got to be something wrong with me'.

"I've really tried to change the focus onto things that I can control - my reactions on the course and my actions off the course - so that I come into tournaments fresh."

Two years ago Padraig Harrington won the Order of Merit and since then, of course, he has won back-to-back Opens and the US PGA Championship.

Karlsson hopes something similar will follow, but he is keeping to his mantra of focusing on the process, not the results.

"We will see what happens, but I've got to try to keep improving on the things that I'm doing. You can never guarantee results," he stressed.

"If you look at Padraig's season this year, it might not have been so exceptional. But he had a couple of really fantastic weeks and he managed to peak on the right weeks.

"This is by far my greatest achievement in golf, but I'm not going to change. I'm going to keep working on the things that I can do."

A look at the Genworth Financial Statistics compiled on the European Tour demonstrate what an improved player Karlsson is.

Of the eight categories he has improved in five, stayed the same in one and declined only in two.

The biggest progress is in the most important one - stroke average, where he has gone up from 50th with 71.38 to first with 70.08.

He is up from 70th to 18th in greens in regulation, from 99th to fifth in bunker play and has remained second on Tour in scrambling, which is scoring par or better after missing a green.

Karlsson's only significant drop is from ninth to 45th in driving distance, from 297.7 to 290.4 yards. "I think it's called age," he replied when asked if he had deliberately sacrificed length for more accuracy.

Unlike last year, when Rose won the money list title despite playing only 12 counting events, Karlsson could be accused of capturing it through quantity rather than quality.

He played 23 events compared to runner-up Harrington's 14. But the Irishman can look forward to collecting various 'Player of the Year' awards for his major double and does not begrudge his Ryder Cup partner this success.

And he would be the first to say there was plenty of quality in what Karlsson did too.

Others made significant progress as well. Lee Westwood up from 10th to third despite not winning a tournament, Graeme McDowell from 37th to fifth, Ross Fisher from 43rd to sixth, Martin Kaymer from 41st to eighth, Darren Clarke from 138th to 13th and, in another welcome comeback, David Howell from 142nd to 45th.

But against that others will not look back on their campaigns with great affection.

Rose slumped from first to 81st, the worst defence of the Harry Vardon Trophy since Dale Hayes in 1976, Ernie Els from second to 42nd, Niclas Fasth from fifth to 94th, Angel Cabrera from sixth to 57th and Nick Dougherty from 11th to 44th.

Karlsson is older than all of them, though, and his story ought to provide inspiration for countless rivals.