Ludvig Aberg got off to a blistering start at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open before being hit with a nasty illness that took him a few weeks to fight off.
The 25-year-old Swede battled through the sickness three weeks ago at Torrey Pines, but it got the best of him the following week during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. With his symptoms getting worse, Aberg withdrew from the tournament after the first round. He took last week off to get healthy before returning to play this week for the Genesis Invitational back at Torrey Pines.
After shooting a 6-under-par 66 in the second round on Friday, Aberg will start the weekend in a tie for fifth, four shots off the pace set by 36-hole leader Davis Thompson.
Following Friday’s round, Aberg detailed the illness that caused him to lose almost 10 pounds in two days at the Farmers Insurance Open,
“Yeah, it was rough for a while,” Aberg said. “It started — Round 1 was fine, Round 2 was fine, and I sort of woke up in the middle of the night. I guess this must have been Friday night because we started Wednesday, going into the third round, and I started throwing up, and I started all these things, and it wasn’t very enjoyable. And then it sort of was OK for a couple of days, and then at Pebble, it kind of shifted to like feverish and almost like body aches and shivering. First, I was really hot. Then I got really cold.
“Lost about eight pounds total in two days, so that’s not the right way to lose weight.”
A bug has been going around the Tour for a few weeks. A number of players dropped out of the Farmers due to flu-like symptoms, and the illness has made its way through the tour. Rickie Fowler withdrew after the first round of last week’s WM Phoenix Open due to an illness.
But Aberg still doesn’t know exactly what illness afflicted him.
“I don’t know. If I knew, I would tell you,” Aberg said. “My first initial reaction was food poisoning because it was sort of the timeline made sense, but then it sort of shifted to the fever. I don’t know. All I know is it wasn’t enjoyable and I’m glad I’m over it.”
Aberg appeared to be in command after the opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open, but a 75-79 finish — caused by his illness — took him out of the tournament that Harris English eventually won.
Now healthy, Aberg is pleased to get another crack at Torrey Pines, which is hosting the Genesis Invitational after the wildfires in Los Angeles forced the tournament to be moved from Riviera.
“Ever since the news broke that we were going to come back here, I was thrilled,” Aberg said. “I love this place, I think it’s one of the best golf courses that we play.”
It’s also a course that Aberg is perfectly suited to pick apart when healthy.
