ORLANDO — Ludvig Åberg didn’t win Arnie’s event, but he had his best start of the year. He finished third and closed with a 67, leaving him tanned, unrested but fully ready for a home game: the 26-year-old Swedish golfer with his beautiful swing-from-Byron movement lives just off the Stadium Course, home of this week’s Players Championship. He sees Vijay Singh (occasionally) on the course there, and Jay Monahan in the clubhouse. He knows every last hook bounce on the court ends with a splash.
Yes, what goes for us goes for them too: keeping your golf ball dry is a top priority on the course once known as TPC Sawgrass. In the unlikely event that Åberg forgets that credo for even a single moment while asleep at the wheel, his caddy will be sure to remind him. As of this year, Åberg’s caddy will be Joe Skovron. Yes, the same cool and collected Joe Skovron who wrapped for Rickie Fowler when Fowler won the 2015 Players. These will be Åberg’s third players. In 2024, he achieved a T8 finish as a rookie. He missed this cut last year.
All kinds of position players have won in Ponte Vedra Beach, including Calvin Peete, Lee Janzen, Fred Funk, Tim Clark, Matt Kuchar and Webb Simpson. But let’s not forget the big-horsepower golfers who won there: Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Davis Love, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Scottie Scheffler. Enter Ludvig – all 6 feet tall and 190 pounds of him, in shape and at home.
“It’s a course where it’s clear what you have to do, but you still have to get it done,” he said Sunday night at Bay Hill. “You have to hit the right shots at the right time. I love the finish: 16, 17, 18. You have to go a step further and hit the golf shots all the way in.”
A few minutes earlier he had been having fun talking to Swedish TV reporters in Swedish. Every now and then you heard some English: Bay Hill, the Players, a bird here, a bird there. Åberg shot 12 under at Bay Hill, three shots clear of the Daniel Berger-Akshay Bhatia play-off won by Bhatia.
He is not the first Swedish golfer to come to America full of promise and talent. Jesper Parnevik, son of a Swedish comedian, had almost too much personality to be a consistent competitor on the PGA Tour, but it was delightful to watch him play his nervous golf. Annika Sorenstam didn’t need great talent to become one of the best female golfers of all time; she was ruthlessly precise. Åberg could split the difference between them. He is extremely powerful, just like Henrik Stenson, but has more finesse on the green. Each of these four golfers speaks incredibly accurate English, as do so many European golfers. Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm express themselves artfully, in good times and in bad. Seve Ballesteros did that too in his own way.
“Sometimes I can’t find a word in English and sometimes I can’t find a word in Swedish,” Åberg said. “It’s a little tricky.” It must be in his head. We can’t see it.
Of course, part of the beauty of golf is that it is an excellent activity for nonverbal expression. At the 2024 Masters, Åberg won the galleries, not with a witty response with his playing partners or under the tree. He did it with his great swing, his pace of play, his easy smile in good times and his no-nonsense response to unforced errors. Besides, he was the new guy. He finished 2nd in ’24 and 7th last year.
Speaking of non-verbal communication, Woods paid Åberg the ultimate compliment at a TGL event last year. Åberg was warming up. Woods made a cross-court walk. He stopped, crossed his arms over his chest and watched in silence. It’s not something he does often. When Åberg won the Genesis Invitational last year, it was Woods who presented him with the trophy.
Åberg was asked if he could feel Woods’ eyes on him at the TGL event at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“I remember that,” he said. “It was a nervous, stressful moment.”
If you feel nervous and stressed in professional golf, something must be going right. It means you’re alive, you’re playing it safe, you’re aware that there are a million eyeballs out there. If two of them belong to Tiger Woods, then there is a look that speaks volumes.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.
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