Ludvig Aberg, the European Ryder Cup captain’s final pick last year was placed in a group discussion with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Rory McIlroy Jon Rahm Viktor Hovland
The problem was that he didn’t know whose number he was in the group chat.
He only had Nicolai Hojgaard and Sepp Straka numbers.
Aberg replied, “None of them.”
The rise of the 24-year-old Swede has been meteoric. He was playing college football for Texas Tech a year ago. He’s now one of golf’s brightest stars, and he will be playing in Hawaii’s season-opening The Sentry. The event, formerly known as the Tournament of Champions is only open to those who have won on the PGA Tour the year before or placed in the top fifty of the FedEx Cup standings.
Aberg’s PGA Tour card was not issued until May. He made his first appearance at the RBC Canadian Open. Between then and now, he’s won on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. He was also a member of the European Ryder Cup winning team.
Aberg’s selection for the latter helped him to prove he was a worthy contender on the biggest stage.
Aberg admitted that being selected as a captain was “definitely intimidating” on Wednesday. “If I told you it wasn’t intimidating, I’d be lying. It’s what you want to achieve, but at times it can also be quite nerve-racking. I think I did a good job, I just had to accept that it was intimidating and nerve-racking. “I was being OK with the emotions and didn’t fight them, or try to block them out. I just tried to embrace it. I also had a lot of enjoyment.”
The win at the Omega European Masters secured his place on the Ryder Cup team. He won the RSM Classic to close out his rookie PGA Tour year.
Aberg is excited about his first appearance in Kapalua.
Aberg stated, “I believe there will always be expectations. It’s what you sign up to in professional sports.” “I understand that expectations are a part, but I will always have high standards for myself.” I know who I am and what I want, so I will be angry if I fail to live up to my own expectations.
“I understand everything, I hear the outside noise but I cannot control it.” “It is what it’s like and I can only try to play each tournament as well as I can, and then see how that goes.”
Aberg could move up to the 10th spot in the Official World Golf Ranking with a victory this week.
He’s excited to play many of the famous courses on the PGA Tour schedule this year.
Aberg stated, “We looked at the schedule last week and I was like, Whoa, I want to play that’.” “Bay Hill is what I am most looking forward to. Players, Pebble and Genesis are also on my list. You obviously want to perform and I am a competitor so I also want to compete. But I don’t really have a number in mind.
