Ludvig Åberg builds on Ryder Cup success with first-round 67 at Sanderson Farms

Ludvig Åberg was showing no signs of Ryder Cup rust.

Åberg, who earned two points for the victorious European team at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club last week, shot a 5-under 67 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and sits tied for 11th after the first round.

Chesson Hadley leads by one after an 8-under 64.

“Going into the day, I was a bit tired, not going to lie, I knew what I was capable of doing, and it was pretty cool to see that showing up,” Åberg said. “It's always nice to get off to a nice start, no matter what the tournament is or what the situation is.”

Åberg bogeyed the par-5 third but bounced back with three birdies before making the turn. He added three more on the back nine. Åberg had his usual impressive stat-line, sitting first in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and averaging over 332 yards off the tee.

The 23-year-old admitted he had a “kind of weird” day on the greens, however. He was 100th in Strokes Gained: Putting at the end of the first round but nearly added two closing birdies on his scorecard – leaving putts of 18 feet and 38 feet just inches from the hole.

“It’s just one of those days,” Åberg said. “Last week was more of a sprint when you were playing match play, but here it's a little bit more like a marathon, so I tried to view it that way and stick to my routines and make sure that I do all these things good that I can control.”

This week marks Åberg’s eighth start on the PGA TOUR since turning pro at the RBC Canadian Open in June. He won the Omega European Masters on the DP World Tour and nabbed a captain’s pick from Luke Donald to be part of the European squad in Rome. While Åberg is exempt on the PGA TOUR in 2024 after topping the PGA TOUR University rankings earlier this year, he still has plenty to play for this week and through the balance of the FedExCup Fall.

He currently sits 136th on the FedExCup standings. Getting inside the top 125 at the end of the FedExCup Fall means a spot in THE PLAYERS, and if he ends up Nos. 51-60 in the FedExCup at the end of the year, he’ll get into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

Cracking the top 50 in the world (Åberg is currently 80th) or notching a PGA TOUR victory before the end of the year will mean a spot in the Masters, while a win also gets him into The Sentry.

It was a week unlike any other for the young Swede at the Ryder Cup – not bad for someone who has never teed it up at a major championship – but he said he was laser-like focused on having a good week back on the PGA TOUR.

Åberg said a lot of people this week in Mississippi have been congratulating him after his effort last week at the Ryder Cup and said it has been “pretty cool” to see the respect for his accomplishments early in his PGA TOUR career.

He said he feels fine, physically, despite all that happened before and after the competition last week, and that his leveled-off attitude will continue to be key.

“I try to keep it very neutral no matter what my score is. I like to think that if I'm 6 over or if I'm 6 under I'm going to treat the shot the same way,” Åberg said. “I try to hit each shot as good as I can and then see where that takes me.

“It's something that I've worked on for a long time, and hopefully I'll be able to keep doing that.”

Åberg will have a quick turnaround at The Country Club of Jackson, teeing off Friday at 8:55 a.m. ET.