With the dust settling on Ludivg Aberg’s Genesis Invitational win at Torrey Pines last week, the Swede has one thing on his mind – to win again.
Aberg stormed his way through the pack in last Sunday’s final round, making four birdies across his final six holes to shoot a six-under-par 66 and win by one ahead of Maverick McNealy. It was the latest step in the youngster’s incredible rise on the PGA Tour, having only turned professional in June 2023.
Ludvig Aberg won in front of Tiger Woods (Image: Getty Images)
In that time, Aberg has won once on the DP World Tour, twice on the PGA Tour and also helped Team Europe regain the Ryder Cup on home soil at Marco Simone in Rome in the fall of 2023.
The 25-year-old however is hungry for more. Speaking of his victory, Aberg told reporters including Mirror Sport this week: “Overall I thought it was amazing, so cool, but I just want to do it again. That is the fun part.” The win was an extra special one for Aberg, as he was able to do it in front of arguably golf ’s greatest ever player in Tiger Woods.
Woods is the host of the Genesis event that is usually held at Riviera Country Club, but it was moved across to Torrey Pines due to recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Aberg was able to share a nice moment with the 15-time major champion, as they spoke together with the trophy during the presentation.
Aberg’s want to become a champion again mirrors the mentality of the great Woods, who prided himself on teeing it up to win at every opportunity. Prior to his 82 PGA Tour wins, a 20-year-old Woods left Curtis Strange in shock when he revealed he was targeting victory on his first professional start.
Ludvig Aberg is golf’s hottest prospect ( Image: Getty Images)
“I’ve always figured that why go to a tournament if you’re not going there to win? There’s really no point in even going,” a young Woods said at the time. “That’s the attitude I’ve had my entire life and that’s the attitude I’ll always have. As I always explain to my dad, second sucks and third is even worse.” Taken back, Strange simply responded: “You’ll learn.”
Woods of course went on to prove his worth as arguably the greatest player to pick up a golf club, making Aberg’s trophy presentation last weekend all the more special. “It is his event, it means a lot and then he means so much to me and to our sport,” Aberg said of Woods.
“So to sort of be [with] that trophy next to him was really cool, and I have that picture of the two of us saved in my phone and I think I’m gonna be looking at that for quite some time.”
Aberg became the fourth European in five PGA Tour events to be crowned champion, following in the footsteps of Sepp Straka, Rory McIlroy and Thomas Detry. With the Ryder Cup approaching, the Swede believes the European form at the beginning of the year bodes well with a trip to Bethpage Black in the diary for September.
“It is great,” he said of the European form. “It speaks to the qualities of the European side of the Ryder Cup team and I think somewhere down the line, Luke is going to be pretty pleased when he sees European success on the PGA Tour and the European Tour… I think it’s great for everyone and hopefully we can keep that going and have some momentum going into the Ryder Cup.”
