How Texas Tech great Ludvig Aberg is making history as a Ryder Cup selection
Ludvig Aberg's star keeps rising, the former Texas Tech golfer being named to Team Europe for the upcoming Ryder Cup in Rome.
He's making history in the process. The 23-year-old Swede is the first player to make a Ryder Cup team before playing in a major, according to Golf Digest, and no player in the modern era has made a Ryder Cup team so soon after turning pro.
The 12-player team was completed Monday with Aberg being among Luke Donald's six captain's picks.
Aberg finished his Tech career at the end of May, sweeping the three college golf awards for national player of the year. Turning pro immediately afterward, he has won more than $737,000 in PGA Tour events with four top-25 finishes and climbed to No. 90 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
On Sunday, Aberg won the European Masters in Switzerland by two strokes, making four consecutive birdies on holes No. 14 through 17. He was on Team Europe's radar long before then.
In a Golf Digest story published Monday, Donald said, "I first heard of Ludvig when he played in Dubai (in January). He was drawn alongside (vice captain) Edoardo Molinari that week and he let me know how impressed he was with this young guy from Sweden. Edoardo immediately saw how good he was. And it was my job as captain to keep my options open for anyone to make the team.”
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Paired together in July for the first two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Donald witnessed Aberg shoot 65-67.
In a story published Monday by CBS Sports, Golf Channel's Nick Dougherty said Donald was blown away by what he watched.
"(Donald) me there have only been a few that he's played with for the very first time that have the 'wow' factor," CBS Sports quoted Dougherty as saying. "One of them is Rory (McIlroy). That was back in 2008 at the Dunhill Links. Now he says Ludvig Aberg is one of those guys as well.
"He said his driver is a huge weapon. He makes the game look effortless. ... This guy is going to be a superstar."
The Ryder Cup is scheduled Sept. 25 through Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.
The six automatic qualifiers on Team Europe are McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick. The other captain's picks are Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka and Nicolai Hojgaard.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Texas Tech great Ludvig Aberg is making history as a Ryder Cup selection
