Ludvig Åberg finishes solo second in major debut at Masters Tournament

Ludvig Åberg was in college this time a year ago. Sunday, he finished solo second in his Masters debut, also his first major-championship start.

Åberg, 24, finished 7-under at his first Masters, four strokes back of winner Scottie Scheffler, and was Scheffler’s predominant adversary on the back nine Sunday until the world No. 1 pulled away with birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 16. Åberg fell short of becoming the first Masters first-timer to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, but the early indications are that he’ll have more chances to earn a green jacket.

Åberg was derailed Sunday by a double bogey at the par-4 11th hole, where he pulled a 216-yard approach into a water hazard left of the green and didn’t get up and down, but he rallied with birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 and kept a clean card from there to the house.

“Keep the ball in front of you” is perhaps on the Mount Rushmore of golf clichés, but Åberg believes it to his core. With the help of his caddie Joe Skovron, the Texas Tech alum applied that principle down the stretch Sunday to polish off a final-round 69 at Augusta National Golf Club, a strong cap to a week that also featured under-par scores in the second and third rounds (69 and 70 respectively) on the week’s two toughest-scoring days, where anything under par was something to savor.

“I think I've always tried to be positive,” Åberg said afterward. “This place has so many nuances to it, so many subtle things off the greens and off the tee that I trust my caddie, Joe, a lot with, and he's helped me tremendously this week in terms of those things.

“It's a fine balance between being aggressive to the right spots and not being overly aggressive, because you can put yourself in some really tough, tricky spots. I felt like we did a good job all week of making sure that at least you have a chance of getting up-and-down and all these things. I allude a lot to my caddie, Joe, for that.”

Åberg has proven to relish the biggest moments, a smooth-swinging, long-hitting Swede whose combination of poise and athleticism would suggest that he was designed in a golf laboratory. He finished atop last year’s PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn immediate PGA TOUR membership; he took the baton and ran with it. He won on the DP World Tour last summer, was part of the European Team’s Ryder Cup victory and won his first TOUR title at The RSM Classic last fall.

The Masters was his first start in a major championship, which would seem counterintuitive but is simply a reflection of this early stage of his career. His presence on the leaderboard late Sunday might have been surprising in the sense of Augusta National’s nuanced challenges, but Åberg isn’t the type to waste time in solving a riddle.

The golf world is scratching its collective head, looking for answers as for how to stop Scheffler, who has won three of his last four TOUR starts (and finished runner-up by a stroke in the other) and has compiled historic ball-striking numbers for the past two years. Perhaps Åberg could offer a challenge in the months and years to come.

“Ludvig played great today,” Scheffler said just before accepting his second green jacket in Butler Cabin. “He made a good move at me there on the back nine and I was fortunate to hold him off towards the end.”

With his solo second finish, Åberg also likely assures a spot in next year’s Masters (the event has traditionally invited the top 12 and ties to return the next year, although 2025 eligibility criteria have yet to be announced).

Still it’s a safe bet that Åberg will check the boxes of several Masters eligibility criteria for years to come.

“Playing here at Augusta National is a dream come true,” Åberg said afterward. “Just to be in this situation and feel the nerves and feel the pressure walking down the last couple holes is what you dream of. This is what I have been wanting to do for such a long time, and it's quite surreal to actually have the opportunity to experience it. But I'm so proud of me, myself and all of the people on my team and my family and everyone involved.”