Soderberg sets European Tour record with fastest round in history

Sebastian Soderberg completed his final round at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in just 96 minutes, setting a new European Tour record

It took Sebastian Soderberg just 96 minutes to play 75 shots (three-over) during his final round at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. 

The Swede decided to make the most of his solo tee time on Sunday with his brother on the bag, recording a birdie at the fourth hole and bogeys at the sixth, seventh, 15th and 16th holes. 

His new record bested the time set by Thomas Pieters at last year’s Italian Open by 23 minutes.

“I felt like it would be a fun thing to do, and didn’t necessarily think it would hurt my game too much,” said Soderberg, whose final round 75 left him at 10-over for the tournament.

“I said we’ll try go as fast as possible the first five, six holes. 

“I took a little time on putts and shots and ran in between, and I played quite well in the beginning so we just kept going.

“I struggled the last two days so I figured it wouldn’t really hurt my game just to jog in between and not think too much. I think three over is not bad, with zero fairways hit.”

“The important thing was my brother on the bag,” Soderberg continued, paying credit to his caddie and brother Jasper. “He had the big job because he ran non stop pretty much.

“He said that he was excited about it this morning and that helped. He said, ‘let’s do it’.

“We talked before. Whenever it was a par three he would go up there and wait there. On par fours and fives he would just leave the appropriate clubs.”

Jasper added: “There were some tough spots out there and running for a while. I had to catch my breath a little bit but now I’m feeling pretty good about it.”