By Meraj Shah
And no one’s surprised. Tiger Woods could make a comeback when he’s 90 years old, swing with one hand and win a Major championship, and still no one would be too surprised. Woods has just done this sort of thing too often. So, yes, TW will be playing the upcoming Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas later this month. The tournament that is held at Albany in the US, is hosted by Woods and his confirmation completes the 20-man strong field.
Woods has played in five PGA Tour events over the last two years: he withdrew from the third round of the Masters Tournament in April this year due to an ankle injury. “My ankle is fine. When they fused my ankle, I have absolutely zero issues whatsoever,” Woods was quoted as saying recently, “That pain is completely gone. It’s the other areas that have been compensated for.” Enough said—that’s Tiger-speak for he’s ready to win again.
The other event over the last fortnight that raised absolutely no eyebrows was Ludvig Aberg’s sensational win at the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour. Which isn’t to say that it was any less astonishing a feat: a young rookie, turns pro, plays and registers his maiden win on the PGA Tour a mere six months after he leaves the amateur fold is, by any standards, a spectacular start to a career. But when you’re talking about a young man who, during that time, has also been part of a winning Ryder Cup team, and won on the DP World Tour, then the benchmark and expectations are a big higher than usual. “I’m super happy. It’s kind of beyond my dreams,” the 24-year-old told NBC.
“This is the sport that I love and the sport that I’m going to love for a very long time. Watching these events from a very young age is what I’ve done, so to see myself win is really cool.”
No other rookie in recent history has generated so little news for breaking through on the USPGA Tour: for players on tours, fans and experts, it was only a question of time, not ability. Aberg has been widely tipped not just to be one of the top players in the world, but one of the greatest of all time. If that sounds like hyperbole, one can just imagine how well-rounded the rookie golfer is to inspire that kind of confidence.
Those who watched Aberg’s composure in the final round of the European Masters were struck by the self-assuredness and unhurried manner in which the young man plays the game. Aberg also seems impervious to nerves and self-doubt and goes about his business as if it were a friendly casual weekend round even when he’s trying to chase down one of the best players in the world—Matt Fitzpatrick—for his maiden professional victory.
That win—the Omega European Masters—less than three months after he turned pro was the final proof that European Team Captain Luke Donald needed to decide that Aberg was ready for what is arguably the most nerve-wracking stage for any playing professional from the US and Europe—the Ryder Cup.
Donald has been in awe of Aberg ever since he was paired with the youngster during the latter’s professional debut at the RBC Canadian Open in June this year. “I really do have a lot of faith and belief in Ludvig. He is a generational player, he’s going to be around a long time and he’s going to do amazing things. If he wasn’t going to play this one he was going to play the next eight Ryder Cups, that’s how good I think he is,” Donald told SkySports before the bi-annual event. For the record Aberg has made the quickest transition from an amateur to the Ryder Cup breaking Sergio Garcia’s record from 1999.
And the young player certainly lived up to expectations. Paired with Viktor Hovland in Friday morning’s foursomes session, the Scandinavian duo took down Max Homa and Brian Harman 4 and 3, and then on Saturday morning, faced off against Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler. Hovland and Aberg took down the two multiple Major winners by 9 and 7—a margin of victory record for the event. In his singles outing Aberg beat Collin Morikawa 4 and 3—closing out a stunning debut at the Ryder Cup.
To reaffirm his pedigree, Aberg stitched together a phenomenal weekend at the RSM Classic. The pair of nine-under 61s was just too hard for anyone else to match. But it wasn’t just about the score and the win, it was the way he did it. On the 440 yard par 415th hole on the final day, needing to put some air between him and the chasing pack, Aberg coolly took a line to the green over marshland and then two-putted for birdie. His score on the weekend set the tour record for lowest closing 36 holes. His cumulative score of 29-under equalled the scoring record on the PGA Tour, matching the 253 of Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open. His tally also smashed the tournament record by no less than seven shots. “This is what you dream of as a kid,” Aberg said. “This is the sport I love and am going to love for a long time. If you told me this a couple of months ago, I would not believe you…I need to pinch myself in the arm.”
A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game