Among the rewards for Ludvig Aberg in capturing The RSM Classic was not just the prized two-year PGA Tour exemption nor the whopping $1.5m first prize cheque.
One of the biggest honours is the invitation into The Masters.
For the 24-year-old super Swede next April’s Masters will be a first appearance in a major championship but as he revealed it will not be a first time he will drive down the famed Magnolia Lane.
“I have, actually have”, he responded when asked if he’d played Augusta National.
“We did a — my freshman year of college we did like a weekend trip with a couple of donors. We got to spend a day at Augusta, we played the golf course and we played the par-3 course and just had the best time”.
AUGUSTA BOUND FOR A ‘SECOND’ TIME …
Super 🇸🇪 Ludvid Aberg @TrackingLudvig will make his majors debut a the ’24 @TheMasters but the now double @DPWorldTour & @PGATOUR member Ludvig has played #AugustaNational ⛳️ before 👏👍
Read: https://t.co/p20lQLEby5
✅ @TOURMISS pic.twitter.com/Hkjt4GEig2
— Golf & Science News (@TOURMISS) November 20, 2023
It’s also been the best of times for the near two-metre tall Aberg, having been ranked a former World No. 1 as an amateur and winning back-to-back Ben Hogan awards in 2022 and also this year as the best collegiate player in the US, and enjoying the realisation that he could do well, very well in the ancient club-and-ball game.
Then in turning pro, he continues to ride the winning wave, capturing September’s Omega European Masters, getting picked to play in the European Ryder Cup team and now winning also for a first time on the PGA Tour.
“I started playing very well in college and I started winning tournaments in college”, he said. “I think the whole concept of winning a tournament, I just fell in love with it. I just absolutely love it. There’s something very weird and special about it. You know, you just
want to do it again and again and again.
“Ever since when I won in Switzerland, I still live off that, and I’m sure I’m going to live off this for a very long time as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to do it again. It’s really cool”.
Aberg has also jumped 21 places to be the new World No. 32 and in just 17 OWGR events, and a far cry from when this journalist was attending the Hero Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year when the relatively unknown Swede teed-up as the then World No. 3073, shooting a great first round 65 but then fading to share 70th place but, in the process, jump to World No. 1964.
He was asked in looking back over his short pro carrer what has delighted him the most.
“I think there’s a lot of things that stand out,” he said. “Obviously this win is going to be very high on the list, but I think the week we had in Rome was unbelievable as well.
“For me to kind of build a relationship with those guys that obviously I’ve looked up to for such a long
time, to come out on top and to win and to kind of be a part of history, I guess, was really cool. And it’s really special to play in that team event and that kind of, to see that whole team dynamic was awesome”.
