DETROIT — Ludvig Aberg of Sweden hands the putter to his caddie on the 18th green during the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club on June 30, 2023. | Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images
Aberg, the 23-year old Swedish phenom, is in contention at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club.
Ludvig Aberg is contending at a PGA Tour event for the first time in his young career.
The young Swede opened with a 7-under 65 on Thursday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He then shot a 5-under 67 Friday at Detroit Golf Club to put himself in a good position heading into the weekend.
After Friday’s round, the former Texas Tech Red Raider referenced Scottie Scheffler, and his thoughts on what it takes to win.
“I think I’ve heard some interviews with Scottie [Scheffler] where he says winning is a skill, and he’s very right about that,” Aberg said.
“It is a little bit different playing with a lead, playing right under the lead. I’ve been fortunate enough to be in that position a lot this year in college, so I felt like I got better at that as the season went on. I’m looking forward to having those same nerves here, which is going to be a little bit different.”
Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images
DETROIT — Ludvig Aberg of Sweden tees off on the 9th tee during the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Country Club.
While at Texas Tech, Aberg helped lead the Red Raiders to win the Big 12 Conference Match Play title.
A few weeks later, at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsville, Arizona, Aberg continued to play well. Although the Red Raiders did not emerge victorious, the Swede finished first in the national university rankings, thus earning full exempt status on the PGA Tour.
He has won plenty before, now he needs to learn to win on the tour.
Aberg heads into Saturday’s third round one stroke off the lead as Taylor Moore and Taylor Pendrith hold the 36-hole at 13-under par.
Rickie Fowler will join the young Swede in the penultimate group. It will mark the first time that Aberg has played with Fowler. He has never met him either.
There is a good chance Fowler will be impressed with Aberg’s game.
He has been pummelling his tee shots, ranking first in the field in strokes gained off the tee. Aberg also ranks first in strokes gained tee-to-green.
He has played spectacularly through 36 holes.
“I‘ve always felt like driver is one of my strengths,” Aberg said. “I like hitting my driver even though it gets a little bit tighter, so I’m trying to use it as much as I can. You know, everyone that plays golf knows that it goes up and down, so these past two days it’s been up for me and hopefully I can keep that working.”
Aberg, like Rose Zhang on the LPGA Tour, is looking to take golf by storm.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
