HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The legend of Ludvig Aberg continues to grow after finishing second at the Masters in his tournament debut at Augusta National Golf Club. Not only did he nearly become the first Masters rookie to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, but it was his first major championship – ever.
“Last week was unbelievable,” Aberg said Wednesday during his press conference ahead of the RBC Heritage. “You don’t really know what it’s going to be like until you actually play in your first major, especially it being the Masters.”
Aberg, a 24-year-old Swede who played his college golf at Texas Tech, conceded that he was nervous the whole week, including during his practice rounds. But color his coach, Peter Hanson, a Swedish golfer and six-time winner on the DP World Tour who once slept on the 54-hole lead at the 2012 Masters, impressed with Aberg’s ability to remain non-plussed in the pressure-cooker of competition.
“He shows up at the range and he’s just Ludvig,” Hanson said. “Even before the final round, I expected something and you couldn’t really see it. It’s impressive. He handles it so well. Better than most.”
Aberg shared the Masters lead with eventual champion Scottie Scheffler after making a long downhill birdie at the ninth hole, but Aberg’s hopes of slipping on the green jacket slipped away when his 6-iron approach at 11 ricocheted off the bank into the water and he made double bogey. Yet Aberg still wore a smile on his face as he walked to the next tee and rallied with birdies at Nos. 13 and 14 to shoot 69.
“Even though I made a dumb mistake on 11, I was still in the hunt, and I still felt very fortunate to be in that situation,” he said.
Since turning pro in June, Aberg has won on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, represented Europe at the Ryder Cup and vaulted to No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald tabbed him a generational player. At Augusta, golf’s biggest stage, Aberg put anyone in the world that wasn’t yet familiar with his five-tool game on notice.
Is Aberg a future No. 1?
“I think he’s a future world No. 1. I don’t need to say any more about him,” past British Open champion Shane Lowry said. “He’s got a really, really, really bright future ahead of him.”
“I think this is our next superstar. I’m so impressed with him,” added two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North, who commentated for ESPN last week.
Hanson said this was just the start for Aberg, and tabbed his pupil the main threat to knock world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler from the top of the mountain in golf.
“I think Scottie knows. The next five years they are going to be fighting it out,” Hanson said. “You can ask Scottie but I think he knows and Ludvig knows. Ludvig knows that Scottie is the one he’s going to have to overtake.”
Asked at his press conference if he thinks there is a gap between Scheffler and everybody else, Aberg said, “Seems like it,” and chuckled.
How does he go about closing that gap? “I just keep being me, keep making sure the things that I’m working on, they’re good, and I think as a golfer, it’s always going to be an endless challenge of trying to get a little bit better, whether it’s your putting or chipping or short game or hitting balls or whatever it is,” Aberg said.
The Swedish sensation tees off at 1:40 p.m. ET on Thursday alongside his Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy at the RBC Heritage. But the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, which starts May 16, can’t come soon enough for Hanson and the rest of Team Aberg.
“I’m excited for Kentucky,” Hanson said. “Can’t wait.”
