Ludvig Aberg will break new ground at the Ryder Cup this week. When he steps onto the tee box for the first time amid with inevitably buzzing atmosphere of Rome’s Marco Simone Golf & Country Club he will become the first golfer ever to play in the prestigious competition before competing in a major. But such is the form and frightening talent of the 23-year-old, European captain Luke Donald could not resist naming him as a wildcard pick in his team that will take on the USA.
Aberg’s inclusion is all the more remarkable because he only turned professional in June. But the fact that 75 days later he had already won his first tour title at the European Masters tells you everything you need to know about his potential to shine in Italy.
So who is Ludvig Aberg and how did he travel from amateur obscurity to golf’s biggest stage so quickly? Express Sport tells you all you need to know…
Aberg was born in Eslov in Sweded in 1999. His father Johan was a keen golfer who first introduced him to the sport when he was seven. But at this point he was far more interested in football.
Young Ludvig enjoyed playing as a central midfielder as he could see plenty of the ball from the middle of the park. In his early years, he had also grown frustrated by his peers not taking golf as seriously as he thought necessary.
This made his mother, Mia, believe that he may his some natural talent. As per Ghanafuo, she said: “I think the first memory of Ludvig having the potential to become a good golfer was probably when he was around six or seven years old and had kids clinics with other kids his age.
“The other kids were more interested in smelling flowers and having fun, but Ludvig wanted to practice and play, so he got fairly upset with the other guys for not caring about improving.”
Ludvig eventually switched his focus from football to golf permanently when he turned 13. His growing interest in the game was fuelled by a clever trick by his father who offered him ice cream if he would stay on their local course an hour longer.
“I never pushed him or wanted him to become a professional,” said Johan Aberg. “I just wanted to have him out here playing with me because it’s quality time.”
As a junior golfer, Aberg won the Annika Sörenstam Trophy in 2016 for winning the Swedish Teen Tour Order of Merit further success arrived at the Fairhaven Trophy in Blackpool before he made a big change in his life, moving to America on his own to enrol at Texas Tech University in 2019.
There he became a member of the Red Raiders golf team. He was part of the Swedish team that won the European Amateur Team Championship in the same year and he also won at the Sun Bowl Marathon All-America Golf Classic in Texas, an event contested by the best amateur university players in the States.
Victory at the Jones Cup Invitational at Sea Island Georgia earned him his first start on the PGA Tour at the RSM Classic in 2021. By April, he was the number one ranked amateur golfer in Europe.
By 2022, his rapid progress was recognised on a serious level. While still an amateur, he was offered over £2million to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League on a two-year contract, but he turned it down as he wanted to pursue a career on the PGA Tour.
In May 2022, he was named the Ben Hogan Award winner, confirming the Swede as the best college player in the United States. When he won it again in 2023 he became only the second play to have won the prestigious award twice after world No. 3 Jon Rahm.
By the end of the year he was the top-ranked player in the PGA Tour University points standings. After finishing the 2022-23 season in the same position he was now the top-ranked player in World Amateur Golf and turned professional in June of this year.
Having made the cut on his PGA Tour debut and then recording a top-10 finish at his next event, Luke Donald encouraged him to come back to Europe and compete in some DP World Tour events to give himself a chance of making the Ryder Cup team.
That proved to be a masterstroke when in August, Aberg won his first professional title at the European Masters, sinking birdies on four of the final five holes. With that, his Ryder Cup place was sealed, with Donald announcing him as a wild-card pick soon after.
Little is known about the rookie’s private life, but he is supported by his girlfriend Bianca on tour and has an older sister called Linnea.
He is also a boyhood supporter of Liverpool Football Club and was recently sent a personalised shirt by the Merseyside club as a sign of appreciation.
Aberg admitted recently that he couldn’t remember an occasion when playing golf had brought him to tears, but Liverpool’s miracle 4-0 comeback against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semi-final (after trailing 3-0 from the first leg) was the last time he cried over a sporting event.
Fast forward four years and the Ryder Cup debutant holds the hopes and dreams of a whole continent in his hands this week. If he is weeping with tears of joy by Sunday evening then another chapter in his remarkable embryotic career will have been written.
