PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA | A microphone was thrust into Ludvig Åberg’s face. The Swede was one of 22 golfers competing in the Players Championship for the first time, and a television interviewer had some questions for him.
“I’ve done a few of these with first-timers,” he began, “but this is the first time I’ve interviewed a newcomer to this event who has already won on both tours [the PGA Tour and the DP World] is a Ryder Cup winner and is No. 10 in the world.”
That’s the thing about Åberg. He continually surprises. Here is another: aged 24, and with those successes he still has not competed in a major championship. He is not just mature for his years; he is far ahead of his years.
Whether or not the Players is a major championship is a subject debated so often that it could be called a hardy perennial.
“I don’t know what a major feels like, so I can’t really compare it to one,” Åberg said Thursday after a 5-under 67 that was two strokes off the early pace at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course. “But yes, obviously the Players is the fifth major and it’s a really big tournament. I try not to change the way that I approach a tournament. This happens to be a big tournament, and that’s what I enjoy playing.”
There was a lot for him to enjoy. There are scores of 67 that are rock solid, could even have been 66 or even 65, and then there are 67s that could have been 68 or 69. This round, highlighted by two eagles, was one of the former.
“I didn’t try to do anything extra today,” Åberg said. “I just tried to keep playing the way I did last weekend at Bay Hill [where he shot 69-72 in the closing rounds and tied for 25th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational]. I felt like I was striking the ball quite well and putting myself in good positions and took advantage of a little bit softer conditions this morning. I never really put myself in danger of losing too many strokes. I made a pretty dumb three-putt on 7 for bogey [his 16th hole of the day after starting on the back nine], and that was my only bogey today. I am obviously super pleased with it.”
“Every time you make an eagle, I always feel like it’s a little bit of a bonus. But obviously I hit some good shots and hit some good putts, too.” – Ludvig Åberg
His eagle on the 532-yard 16th, his seventh hole, was a thing of beauty. A massive drive that left him 178 yards to the flagstick followed by a 7-iron to 8 feet. He made it seem easy. He made the eagle on the second hole seem easy too: another big drive, another 7-iron, another short putt (12 feet) and another 3 to put down on his card.
“Every time you make an eagle, I always feel like it’s a little bit of a bonus,” Åberg said, “but obviously I hit some good shots and hit some good putts, too.”
Åberg smiles a lot. He smiles as he listens to questions, and he smiles as he delivers his answers. One of Åberg’s contemporaries on the PGA Tour is Smylie Kaufman. Åberg could be nicknamed Smiley because he does so much smiling.
It was an ideal day for golf, warm and windless, and the course was soft and yielding. Åberg, Patrick Cantlay and Adam Scott teed off at 8:46 a.m., just behind Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. At that time of day, the sky was Cambridge-blue and the birdsong sounded more tuneful than usual. It was the sort of morning that P.G. Wodehouse, the noted British writer and humourist, once wrote “…when all nature shouted, ‘Fore!’ …”
Åberg is not Jordan Spieth quick nor is he Patrick Cantlay slow. He does his preparation as thoroughly as anyone, tossing blades of grass into the air to test the wind strength and direction, and standing behind his ball to get the correct line. Once he steps up to the ball, he is all business. Club down behind the ball, a last look down the fairway and then whoosh! as his club descends on the ball in a mighty hit. There might be a dip of his knees as he tries to influence the flight of his ball and another anxious look down the fairway before tapping the ground and handing his club back to his caddie. It’s refreshing that he is brisk.
“He’s the full package, isn’t he?” one tour wife commented as Åberg, Cantlay and Scott and their caddies made their way down the seventh fairway. “He’s a hunk. Plus, he’s a really nice fellow. And his girlfriend is really nice too.”