Ludvig Aberg Broke Out in 2023, and He’s Just Getting Started
Ludvig Aberg
Age: 23
Hometown: Eslov, Sweden
College: Texas Tech
Notable accomplishments: winner of the 2023 European Masters and RSM Classic, member of the winning European Ryder Cup team, two-time Ben Hogan Award recipient, ’23 European Ryder Cup team member, first player to receive PGA Tour membership from PGA Tour University
Why he’s a breakout candidate for 2024:
Disclaimer: Yes, Aberg has already had his “breakout” moment. But it would be remiss not to include him on our 2024 watch list. Golf loyalists might already have a pulse on Aberg’s star power, but general sports fans simply do not know what’s about to hit them.
Aberg won his first PGA Tour event at November’s RSM Classic.
Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports
There are quite a few different routes one can go in summarizing the golfing brilliance of Ludvig Aberg. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald confidently called him a “generational talent” and frequently promises his “unlimited potential.” Stewart Cink used the word “robotic” and clarified that he meant it “in a good way.”
But Rory McIlroy’s response to playing 18 holes with Aberg for the first time really says it all: “I was on the bandwagon before. I’m certainly at the front of it now.”
If you haven’t joined McIlroy on the Aberg train just yet, you better hurry up. The 24-year-old Swede’s 2024 season is shaping up to be nothing short of explosive. To best explain why that is, let us present you with an unofficial and developing list: The top five Ludvig Aberg statistics.
- First to play in a Ryder Cup before playing in a major championship.
- Led the PGA Tour in strokes-gained off the tee for the first seven consecutive events of his pro career.
- Second player to win two consecutive Ben Hogan Awards for the top player in college and amateur golf, along with Jon Rahm.
- Tied the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history at the RSM Classic with a tournament total of 29 under. It matched Justin Thomas’s winning score at the 2017 Sony Open.
- Jumped 3,032 places in the Official World Golf Rankings since the end of 2022, from No. 3,064 to 32.
As Aberg embarks on his first full season as a member of the PGA Tour, we expect that list of unfathomable feats to only lengthen. Remember, Aberg has been a professional for only seven months and he’s already accomplished what many PGA Tour players would be pleased with in their lifetimes.
Aberg’s first summer as a pro included 16 of 17 made cuts. In 12 of those events he finished in the top 25. He clinched his maiden professional victory in August at the DP World Tour’s Omega European Masters and snagged a PGA Tour win just three months later at the RSM Classic. He made $3.1 million in PGA Tour earnings in just 13 events.
Aberg might have won twice, but Donald’s surprise captain’s pick of the young Swede for the 2023 European Ryder Cup team was the highlight of his “Hello, world” summer. Just four months after the conclusion of his collegiate career at Texas Tech, Aberg teed it up in the biennial team match play event that marks the pinnacle of the men’s game. And with a 2–2 match-play record, Aberg made his presence known, especially when partnered with fellow Scandinavian Viktor Hovland (the pair went 2–1). The rookie aided the Europeans in their crushing defeat of the Americans, and if Aberg keeps his game rolling at its current pace, the Ryder Cup will be a familiar addition to his calendar.
Just take the 2025 captain’s word for it: “If he wasn’t going to play this one, he was going to play the next eight Ryder Cups,” Donald said. “That’s how good I think he is.”