Ludvig Aberg talks PGA Tour & DP World Tour wins, Ryder Cup victory in Rome and what he’s looking forward to in 2024
Have you been surprised by how quickly you found success on the PGA TOUR?
I wouldn’t say surprised. I think at the end of the day I know my qualities and I think what I’ve been impressed by myself is how quickly those have shown up, I think, because whether you like it or not, it is different playing college than playing on the TOUR. It’s same club, the same ball, all those things, but it is a little bit different and I feel like I’ve been handling all the off-course things quite well and therefore because I’ve handled that quite well, my qualities have shown up on the golf course too.
Is there anything about the assimilation process from college to pros that surprised you or maybe something that you weren’t expecting?
I feel like the biggest difference for me playing college golf versus professional is just the amount of golf you play. Even though we play quite a busy schedule in college, it’s nothing to what we do here, where you travel a lot, you play four or five weeks in a row and — it’s just a lot more golf. But it’s something that I like. It’s something that I enjoy. I like in my practice myself to do lot of playing and those things and I think it’s very healthy. The ability to score, the ability to play well, even though you’re not feeling great in those things, I think has made me able to perform even though, yeah, those things.
As big a deal as winning is, the importance of it, is there another moment before Switzerland before Sea Island that was kind of a spark of confidence or momentum for you?
I mean, obviously, Switzerland was so much fun because you want to win tournaments and that’s what you like to do. Up until the point where you actually have won a tournament you haven’t won one. So I think that was a big week for me.
But also the week we had in Rome for the Ryder Cup was big for me. It was kind of the first time that I got to spend a lot more time with those guys, and obviously they’re the best in the world, so I just try to listen to them and speak to them and for me to build relationships with a lot of those guys was pretty cool. That helped me to then be able to play good golf the rest of the year, I think.
Q. Was that intimidating at all?
Yeah. No, it was definitely intimidating. If I said it wasn’t I would be lying because it is what you want to do, but it’s also quite nerve-racking at times. I think I did it quite well, just to be okay with it being intimidating and nerve-racking. I was just being okay with all the emotions that might show up and I didn’t try to fight it, I didn’t try to block it out, it was just try to embrace it and obviously have a lot of fun as well.
Q. When you were named to the team, I’m sure you started some sort of a group chat. How many phone numbers did you have?
Just two Nicolai and Sepp. But none of the other guys.
Q. Who was the most intimidating? You were asked if you were starstruck around those guys. Is there anyone that was particularly intimidating to meet or interact with?
I wouldn’t say a specific person was intimidating. I think it was more of the whole setting and environment of being in the same team room as those guys. I mean, I was very — I wouldn’t say surprised, but I was very — I thought it was really cool how they treated me, even though these guys I’ve looked up to for so long and they treated me with the respect, that — obviously, I’m going to treat them with respect, but I felt like it was mutual, and that stuck out to me that I thought was really cool.
So I never felt any kind of intimidation towards my teammates. It was more the whole, I guess, setting and environment being in that team room, I think.
Q. You’ve obviously had such a meteoric rise to where you are right now. Do you feel the weight of expectations at all starting this new year?
I think there’s always going to be expectations. It’s kind of what you sign up for in professional sports. So I do understand that it is a part of it, but I’m always going to have a lot of expectations on myself as well. I know my qualities and I know what I want to do, so if I don’t live up to that, I’m going to be pissed myself.
So obviously I understand all the things, the outside noise, but that’s also nothing that I can really control. It is what it is and all I can try to do is play each tournament the best I can and then kind of see where that goes.
Q. What are your expectations for yourself this year?
I’m just really looking forward to playing all these golf courses and all these tournaments that I’ve watched for so long. We were looking at the schedule the other week, and it’s just one tournament after another that I’m like, Whoa, I just want to play it. Bay Hill, PLAYERS, Pebble, Genesis, I think that’s what I’m really looking forward to. Obviously you want to perform and I’m a competitor, so I want to compete, but I don’t have like a set number or something like that that I’m looking towards.