ABERG THE ONE TO WATCH AFTER A STUNNING DEBUT
LUDWIG ABERG is being tipped to become world No.1 after his superb major debut but the Swedish golfer insists he will not be getting carried away by his success at the Masters.
The 24-year-old only turned professional last June but quickly won on the DP World Tour, helped Europe regain the Ryder Cup in Rome – including a 9&7 win with Viktor Hovland over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka – and also tasted victory on the PGA Tour before the end of the season.
Such performances earned him a debut major at Augusta and he pushed Scheffler in Sunday’s final round before the world No.1 pulled away to claim a second green jacket, closing with a 68 to finish on 11 under, four clear of second-placed Aberg.
‘I think he’s a future world No.1,’ former Open champion Shane Lowry said of Ryder Cup teammate Aberg. ‘He’s got a really, really, really bright future ahead of him. He’s already done a few great things in the game, and I’m sure he’ll do many more.’
Speaking after a three-under final round of 69 during which he was briefly joint leader, Aberg said: ‘It’s very flattering. It’s very nice of them to say those things. But it just tells me we are doing some good things, me and my team, and we’re probably not going to change a whole lot.
‘This being my first major, you never really know what it’s going to be like until you’re there. This week has given me a lot of experiences and a lot of lessons learned. It makes me really hungry, and it makes me want to do it again and again.’
Aberg’s hopes of beating Scheffler were sunk when he found water at the 11th on his way to a double bogey, although he did bounce back with birdies on the 13th and 14th and finished three clear of Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Tommy Fleetwood.
‘Everyone in my position, they are going to want to be major champions,’ said Aberg, who will be back for his second major at next month’s US PGA.
‘They are going to want to be world No.1 and it’s the same for me. It’s been that way ever since I picked up a golf club, and that hasn’t changed.’