Of the world’s 20 highest-ranked players, only LIV defector Cameron Smith is missing from this week’s PGA Tour event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational. At the same time, Ludvig Åberg, as the only amateur, gets the chance to test his skills against golf’s “crème de la crème”.
When TT talks to the Skåne, he has just had lunch in the clubhouse at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida. Then another nine holes await to sharpen the form before Thursday’s opening round.
– It’s great fun to be here and a great atmosphere, everything around is so much more fun if you compare it to a college competition. I’m super excited for the week and hope to play some good golf.
PGA Tour next?
During the years as a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Ludvig Åberg has been a guarantor of just good golf. Good play with the driver, mental coolness and an ability to love the decisive moments are some of the explanations why he is currently at the top of the college rankings in the United States. Whoever finishes the spring semester first now gets playing rights on the PGA tour for the rest of the season, so in the best case it could be Åberg’s workplace from June. If he finishes the ranking in place two-five, he will instead be waiting for a game on the Korn Ferry sub-tour.
In any case, he will turn pro this summer.
– The opportunity that has opened up with this ranking is fantastic, hopefully I can take advantage of it. College is fun, but I long for new challenges, says Åberg.
This week’s challenge is unlike anything he has experienced before. Sure, he’s gotten to play a couple of times on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour before, but not in starting fields of as high a class as now. He does not get particularly “starstruck” by the unfamiliar surroundings.
– It’s clear that it’s cool to see Rory or Rahm standing on the range and stuff like this. But they are people too, they just happen to be very good at golf. And that’s a little bit what I aim to become as well.
Nobbed LIFE
Åberg has previously told SVT that he turned down 2.5 million dollars (around 26 million kroner) when the Saudi-sponsored LIV tour tried to attract him with a two-year contract.
This week he also goes raffle, as amateurs cannot accept prize money. At the same time, the competitors compete for slightly unbelievable sums. The winner on Sunday night will receive a check for 3.6 million dollars (just over 37 million kroner) and it is enough to finish in a relatively modest 37th place to receive 99,000 dollars, that is, more than a million Swedish kronor.
– For my personal part, it’s not what attracts, but I think it’s fun to play competitions and win. But absolutely, there is a lot of money in golf, notes Åberg.
If he only comes close to his future goals, he will soon have earned that LIV money that he turned down last year.
– The goal is absolutely to win majors. Those are the competitions you want to play and be good in, so it would be silly not to say that the goal is to win there and lift the heavy trophies.
Alex Norén (kicks off at 1:16 p.m., Swedish time, on Thursday)
There is a small question mark for the daily form of Sweden’s highest-ranked men’s golfers. Has missed the qualifying mark in his last two starts and withdrew from last week’s competition. As the only Swede, he is ready to play in The Players Championship next week. Norén can also look forward to the Match Play World Cup in Austin and the US Masters at Augusta National later this spring.
David Lingmerth (17.50)
After a rough few years, Lingmerth appears to have found his way back to the game that made him a winner on the PGA Tour in 2015. Lingmerth tied for 10th place last week and earned about $2.3 million for that effort. It was his third top-ten finish in his last eight starts on the PGA Tour.
Ludvig Åberg (19.34)
Last year, he became the first Swedish men’s player ever to be ranked as the world’s best amateur. Now second on the same ranking. Got to play a European Tour event in Dubai earlier this year and then shared the lead after 65 strokes in the first round, but then dropped significantly to a final 70th place.
