Ludvig Åberg turns it around, shows why he’s a top 5 player in the world at RSM Classic

After a self-described rusty start, Ludvig Åberg turned it around and now has an outside chance to win back-to-back RSM Classic titles.

Oh, what a difference a day can make.

On Thursday, Ludvig Åberg posted a 3-over 73 on day one of the RSM Classic, which included a few pulls and pushes off the tee. He even made a triple-bogey seven on the 10th hole. Then, on Friday, a chilly and windy day on the Georgia coast, Åberg proved why he is currently a top-5 player in the world.

He shot an 8-under 64 on the Plantation Course, which included a tap-in eagle on the par-5 8th—his 17th hole of the day. The Swede made no birdies and instead made six birdies to go along with his late-round eagle.

“Very different. It was a little bit easier today, it felt like,” Åberg said of his round.

“Even though [on Thursday] the score wasn’t very good, I still felt like there were some good things in there. So I kept holding onto that last night and this morning and came out today and played a lot better golf.”

That he did.

Now, Åberg sits at 5-under for the championship and trails 36-hole leader Patrick Fishburn by six shots going into the weekend. Considering he posted a pair of 61s over the weekend at this tournament last year, no deficit is out of reach for Åberg.

But best of all, it appears that Åberg has knocked the rust off, as this week marks his first start since the Tour Championship in late August. He had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in September. Better yet, Åberg feels 100% at the midway point of the championship.

“It’s great,” Åberg said of his knee.

“It’s been feeling nice now for a couple of weeks, and I’m really excited to be back playing.”

Åberg will begin his third round on Saturday at 10:05 a.m. ET with Americans Will Gordon and Joe Highsmith. If he continues to play like he did on Friday, watch out for the Swede to come back and threaten a repeat victory in Sea Island.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.