A new star was born for European golf in Ludvig Aberg at the Ryder Cup as he delivered two points in a strong debut performance, but the Swede has headed straight back out on tour
Just a couple of days ago, Ludvig Aberg was recovering from the hangover of his life after playing a pivotal role in Europe’s triumph at the Ryder Cup.
The Swedish rookie, who turned pro just three months ago, is one of golf’s rising stars and he held his own at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, delivering two points for his team alongside fellow Scandanavian Viktor Hovland. Aberg sealed a record-breaking victory over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in the process, continuing his remarkable and rapid ascent in the infancy of his career.
The 23-year-old already has a DP World Tour win and a Ryder Cup victory on his resume, but rather than take a break after a life-changing week, the former number-one amateur in the world has jetted to the United States to take part in the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, for the first of two PGA Tour appearances in the space of two weeks.
Aberg is the only one of the 24 Ryder Cup players in the field at the Country Club of Jackson when it gets underway on Thursday, and he will tee it up seven days later at the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. The Swede believes getting straight back on the course will only benefit his progression.
“Obviously, last week was a lot, it was intense, it was a lot of new experiences for me,” he said. “Although I enjoyed it a lot, it was pretty exhausting at times. But I was committed to this event and I feel like I wanted to honour that commitment and come and play.
“And, obviously for me, because I’m so new to all of this, I want to play as much as I can to get a lot of new experiences and get a lot of new memories in the bank. So for me to come over here was a pretty easy decision. I’m playing this week and next week and I feel pretty confident with that decision.”
Aberg was a surprise selection for Luke Donald’s team due to his inexperience, but he rewarded his captain’s faith by winning his first two matches to put Europe in a commanding lead en route to victory.
He would lose in the Saturday fourballs and Sunday singles to conclude the week, but he proved he belonged in elite company on the golf course under the most intense pressure.
Aberg attended Texas Tech University, where he became the first player since Jon Rahm to win the Ben Hogan Award – given to the best collegiate player in the US – twice. Despite tasting glory on his home continent, Aberg is happy to be back on the other side of the Atlantic.
“Nice to be back in America,” he added. “I haven’t been in America for eight weeks, so (I am) definitely going to have Chipotle tonight. I haven’t had that in forever so I can’t wait for that.”
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