Former Texas Tech golfer Ludvig Aberg fires low round at the Masters
Former Texas Tech golfer Ludvig Aberg got to play plenty of rounds in the wind during his college career in Lubbock. That might be coming in handy this week on one of golf's biggest stages.
Aberg shot the low round of the day Friday at the Masters and is in contention going to the weekend in his first professional major.
Playing in windy conditions at Augusta National Golf Club, Aberg carded a 3-under-par 69.
"It was not easy," he said, "but I felt like I played pretty good. I especially read the greens very well and hit theputts the way I wanted to. I think to get a score in today, I felt like that's probably what you almost have to do."
Aberg is 2-under for the tournament and in seventh place, four shots out of the lead after two rounds. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shares the lead with Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa.
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The 24-year-old from Sweden birdied holes No. 2, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 16 and bogeyed Nos. 5, 6 and 18.
"It's just the gustiness of the winds," Aberg said regarding what gave him the most trouble. "Obviously there's so much of it, so it's going to affect whatever shot you're going to hit, whether it's a putt or a chip or a full shot. ... Try to understand what that's going to do to the ball, which is obviously tricky.
"Obviously, Augusta National is not the easiest of golf courses even when you're playing in dead calm wind. So it just makes it a little bit trickier."
Aberg turned pro in 2023, right after his senior season at Tech. That year, he swept college golf's three awards for player of the year: the Ben Hogan, the Haskins and the Jack Nicklaus. He won the Ben Hogan Award two years in a row, joining Jon Rahm as the only two-time winners.
Now Aberg is balancing being in contention with enjoying his first time at Augusta National.
"Once you're walking between the shots, you can soak it in as much as you can, go for it," he said. "Butonce you're over the ball, once you're making the decisions of what you want to do, that's when you're in tournament mode. (When) you're done with that, back to soaking it in and try to enjoy the walk as much as I can."
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This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Former Texas Tech golfer Ludvig Aberg fires low round at the Masters
