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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Author
Former Texas Tech star Ludvig Aberg will play for Europe within the upcoming Ryder Cup, lower than 4 months after he turned professional.
Aberg, from Sweden, was one among European captain Luke Donald‘s six captain’s picks that had been introduced Monday. Donald additionally selected England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose, Austria’s Sepp Straka, Eire’s Shane Lowry and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard.
“It has been rather a lot these final couple of months, nevertheless it’s been so thrilling,” Aberg mentioned. “I am unable to watch for Rome.”
Aberg, 23, secured his spot on the European roster with a 2-shot victory on the European Masters in Switzerland on Sunday in solely his ninth begin as a professional. Aberg would be the most inexperienced participant to ever compete within the Ryder Cup.
“He confirmed yesterday in [Switzerland] that he has the potential to be one among golf’s superstars,” Donald mentioned. “We clearly knew what he was doing within the school scene. Take a look at what he did these 4 years. The one comparables actually had been Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm within the final 20 years. He is that good with what he was doing. We had been clearly keeping track of him.”
Donald mentioned he performed with Aberg on the Rocket Mortgage Basic and “was blown away by his recreation.” Aberg tied for fourth on the John Deere Basic the following week and tied for 14th on the Wyndham Championship. Aberg’s driving common of 317 yards would rank third on the PGA Tour if he had had sufficient qualifying rounds, behind solely Rory McIlroy (326.3) and Brandon Matthews (321.2).
“He continued to progress, and I challenged him and mentioned, ‘Come over to Europe and play for a few weeks,'” Donald mentioned.
Aberg tied for fourth on the Czech Masters in Prague final month earlier than selecting up his first skilled victory Sunday. He had 4 birdies within the final 5 holes to defeat Sweden’s Alexander Björk by 2 strokes.
Aberg was a two-time winner of the Ben Hogan Award as school golf’s finest participant and was the No. 1 ranked newbie on this planet.
“When you would have instructed me a few months in the past that I used to be going to be in these sorts of conversations, I most likely wouldn’t have believed you,” Aberg mentioned. “Clearly, I am tremendous, tremendous lucky to be on this place. I am unable to thank the captain and vice captains sufficient.”
Aberg will likely be one among 4 rookies competing for the Europeans at Marco Simone Golf & Nation Membership exterior Rome from Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Straka, Hojgaard and FedEx Cup champion Hovland, an computerized qualifier, additionally will likely be making their first appearances.
Together with Hovland, McIlroy and Rahm, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre had been computerized qualifiers.
The Europeans will attempt to avenge a 19-9 loss to the Individuals at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2021. The Europeans have received the previous six Ryder Cups exterior the U.S. The Individuals’ final victory on overseas soil was a 15-13 win at The Belfry in Warwickshire, England, in 1993.
