Ludvig Åberg shakes off crazy ball deflection, opens Genesis Scottish Open in 6-under 64

Ludvig Åberg, the young Swede with effortless power and unwavering poise, has seemingly accounted for every variable in his pursuit of golf perfection.

But golf always offers new twists, and Åberg was put to the test Thursday at the Genesis Scottish Open.

Åberg struck his 148-yard approach at The Renaissance Club’s par-4 eighth hole on a superb line, the ball on track to land roughly 12 feet past the hole. The twist: his ball landed squarely on that of his playing partner Collin Morikawa, sending both balls flying off the green in opposite directions. As the crowd audibly gasped, Åberg’s ball raced off the green’s right side to leave a tricky pitch. The result was a head-scratching bogey that looked like a birdie or easy par while his approach was airborne.

(Morikawa, whose ball was deflected off the green’s back side, replaced his ball in its original position, 12 feet past the hole, per the Rules of Golf. Morikawa proceeded to drain his birdie putt.)

Åberg, 24, responded in a way that demonstrated a strong mental game in addition to his generational physical tools. He carded 5-under 30 on the back nine, including an eagle on the par-5 16th, for an opening-round, 6-under 64 that left him just two back of first-round leader Justin Thomas, who assumed his first lead after any round on TOUR since winning the 2022 PGA Championship.

Rather than allowing the mistake to compound, Åberg shook it off and ascended the leaderboard.

“I've never seen it before. Probably not going to see it for a long time again, but it's just one of them,” Åberg said afterward. “I felt like I hit a good shot. It was probably going to be, what, 12 feet, something like that, where Collin was. You can't see the ball, or the flagstick from the fairway. We saw the ball shoot off to the right, and I didn't really realize what it hit.

“Once those things happen, I can’t do anything about it.”

Åberg took the break in good fun, laughing with caddie Joe Skovron as they walked toward the eighth green. Links golf is known for its unpredictability and although this nature of break could have happened anywhere on the globe, the misfortune is solid mental training for the expected challenges across the next two weeks – through the next 54 holes at the Genesis Scottish Open and into next week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, which is situated on the Scottish coast and is often privy to swirling winds that require creative shotmaking and intuitive club selection.

Åberg’s past year has featured a plethora of firsts. The Texas Tech alum earned automatic TOUR membership as the top-ranked player on the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking, then made his first Ryder Cup appearance for the European Team last fall in a winning effort. He earned his TOUR win at The RSM Classic in November, then finished second at the Masters in his major-championship debut. He has proven he isn’t fazed by newness. Thursday’s resilience falls along those lines.

“All I try to do is just make good swings, and I did,” Åberg said. “Checked that box. Obviously I would have wanted it to stay on the green, but this time it didn’t.”