The accolades are coming from all corners. A true Ludvig Aberg appreciation society.
There was his coach, Peter Hanson, a longtime pro and a two-time Ryder Cupper. He told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak recently that he believed his pupil would be the primary threat to Scottie Scheffler, the now two-time Masters winner who, for most of this year, has been unthreatened.
“I think Scottie knows: The next five years, they are going to be fighting it out,” Hanson said. “You can ask Scottie, but I think he knows and Ludvig knows.”
There was also this, from Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open Championship winner:
“We’ve all said it, though: I think he’s a future world No. 1. I don’t need to say any more about him. He’s got a really, really, really bright future ahead of him. He’s already done a few great things in the game, and I’m sure he’ll do many more.”
Then there was Jesper Parnevik, like Hanson, an accomplished Swedish pro, with three Ryder Cup appearances. To the PGA Tour Champions social media team, he said just these eight words, though they did a lot of work:
“He’s kind of got a Tiger vibe about him.”
All nice words. And understandably so. The 24-year-old from Sweden is a college and amateur winner. He’s already been a member of a winning European Ryder Cup team. He’s already a professional winner. He’s a champion on the DP World Tour. He’s a champion on the PGA Tour, that W coming last November at the RSM Classic. And last week, at the Masters, in his major-championship debut, Aberg finished runner-up.
But then he hit a 2-iron on Thursday.
And Nick Faldo added another thought.
The shot came Thursday, during the first round of the RBC Heritage, on the 574-yard par-5 5th at Harbour Town Golf Links. He was about 270 yards out after his tee ball. He was then 8 feet away after his second shot. His 2-iron had covered nearly three football fields. A video of it was shared by the Fore Play X account.
To which Faldo, a six-time major winner, wrote:
“Is this the best golf swing you’ve ever seen or what?? Plane perfection!”
Best golf swing you’ve ever seen? Of course, there’ve been others, and Faldo may have been swept up in the moment a bit. Then again, Aberg’s move is no doubt desirable. There’s a lot to like.
On Saturday, another Masters winner thought so. On the CBS broadcast of the RBC Heritage’s third round, analyst Trevor Immelman broke down Aberg’s swing. He concluded by saying: “Everybody wants that swing.” Later, on a social-media post of the analysis, Immelman added this:
“My favorite swing on Tour.”
As to what Aberg himself thinks of the adoration?
He’s modest. But appreciative.
Consider this exchange after his Masters final round, started by a reporter:
“A couple of your Ryder Cup teammates this week have suggested that you’re a future world No. 1 and it’s obviously not an easy thing to achieve without that expectation, but how do you feel when people like Rory McIlroy or Shane Lowry say these things about you?”
“Well, it’s very flattering,” Aberg said. “It’s very nice of them to say those things. They don’t have to say those things. But I think, you know, to me, it just tells me that we are doing some good things, me and my team, and we’re probably not going to change a whole lot.
“But obviously hearing those things from Rory and those guys is very, very encouraging.”
