Ludvig Aberg is eager to continue his rise on the PGA Tour, already having compiled two top-25 finishes among his first three professional starts following five starts on tour as an amateur.
On Thursday, he will tee it up at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., on a course he believes will yield some low scores.
“It’s a great course,” Aberg said Tuesday. “Obviously being a fan of the PGA Tour for such a long time, I’ve seen the tournament, and I recognize a few holes. Especially 18 and 17 coming down the stretch.
“So I think it’s going to take a lot of birdies. I think it’s going to be pretty low scores with the weather being — if the weather holds up.”
The 23-year-old Swede played at Texas Tech and has made six cuts in his eight tournaments.
He has seen a great deal of activity in a very short time and realizes this is all part of the process.
“Yeah, it’s been a few intense weeks,” he said. “Ever since I played my first event in Canada a couple of weeks ago, it’s been kind of ‘on the go’ all the time.
“But, you know, I try to be prepared for it. I try to prepare as much as I could, and it’s going to be — it’s going to take some time, I think.”
Aberg has handled the transition from Europe as well as can be expected, landing at Texas Tech and joining a couple of fellow countrymen, Fredrik Nilehn and Adam Blomme.
“I was able to talk to them a little bit, and everyone kind of said the same thing,” Aberg said. “Like, just be OK. It might take some time. You might not shoot 64 every round coming right out of the gate.
The move to the U.S. pushed his growth as a player and as a person.
“Coming from Sweden, obviously English is not my first language, and all of a sudden you’re at this big campus with 35,000 students, and you don’t know anyone, and you don’t know where to go,” he said. “It takes some ownership.
“I think I had to mature a little bit faster than I would have liked to, but I think it’s very valuable. I think I can use some of that for this as well.”
With a maturity beyond his years, Aberg has been mentioned among the favorites to win this tournament — a point he dismisses with a “whatever will be, will be” attitude.
That said, he’s not taking anything for granted.
“I love playing all these events that I’ve seen on TV so many years,” he said. “It’s a little bit surreal.
“I almost have to pinch myself when I wake up in the morning, but I’m so fortunate to be here and looking forward to a fun week.”
–Field Level Media