When the established guard of the PGA Tour talk about the rising stars who are ushering in a new era of interest, all conversations begin with Ludvig Aberg.
The 25-year-old stands tall literally and figuratively, as the 6-foot-2 Swede already has a pair of PGA Tour victories on his resume, leads the early 2025 FedExCup standings and has been a standout during the first season of the TGL.
Ranked fourth in the world, Aberg is coming off a win at The Genesis Invitational. But his star could reach new heights in the coming months.
He tees off at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando on Thursday ahead The Players Championship up the Florida coast next week, and with the Masters only a month away.
Aberg tied for 25th last year at Bay Hill, a course that he said requires a lot of patience. That in itself can be the biggest challenge for a young golfer who admits he likes to play quickly.
“Bay Hill is definitely one of the most iconic ones,” Aberg said Wednesday. “It’s a cool golf course because you sort of have to take a lot of shots on, you can’t really bail out. You’re going to get a lot of tee shots over water, a lot of cool second shots over water.
“It will be important to stay patient, but also being very aggressive to our targets.”
While Bay Hill is iconic, it doesn’t rank as high on Aberg’s list as TPC Sawgrass. And he would know, having played it numerous times since moving to Ponte Vedra Beach last month.
“For me, it’s a top-five golf course in the world,” he said. “Tee to green, I think it’s amazing. It’s right in front of you. You have to hit the shots, but if you don’t, you’re going to get punished, which is the type of golf that I really like. So I can’t help myself but play it a lot when I’m home.
“If there’s an advantage, I’m not sure. A lot of guys in the field have played it plenty of times, but it’s a really cool place.”
Aberg sits behind only multiple major champions Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele in the Official World Golf Ranking. He could have closed the gap on that trio even further after a T5 at the season-opening The Sentry, but he fell ill while leading the Farmers Insurance Open, was forced to withdraw from Pebble Beach the following week and then returned to win the Genesis.
Aberg called it “a little bit of a roller coaster,” but he’s excited for the upcoming stretch of “cool” tournaments at some of the tour’s most iconic venues. After The Players, he’ll take a trip to see Augusta for the first time since last April, when he finished runner-up to Scheffler.
But first is Bay Hill. And for a young player with a deep appreciation for the history of the game, Aberg would love to add his name to Palmer’s trophy.
“You can’t speak enough of what Arnold Palmer and his legacy means to our game,” he said. “I sort of try to do it the way that he does it, or the way he did it, which was amazing.
“If you can slightly do it the way that he did it, I think you’re going to be pretty good.”
–Field Level Media
