Ludvig Aberg has suggested what he would have probably done differently during the final round of The Players Championship after throwing away his chances of victory over two holes at TPC Sawgrass.
Heading into Sunday of The Players, it appeared that everything was set for Aberg to secure the biggest victory of his career to date.
The Swede began the final round with a three-shot lead at a course he knows extremely well. Unfortunately, he made two bogeys and a double on the back nine to take himself out of contention.
Ludvig Aberg reflects on his final round collapse at The Players Championship
The pivotal mistakes came on 11 and 12 as he found the water on both holes. Many were baffled by his decision to take driver on the latter when there really appeared to be no need.
Interestingly, Aberg believes that the club selection on the 12th was not the fatal mistake. Speaking on the Fore Play Podcast, he noted that he would have been wise to take the heat out of the situation.
“I still love Sawgrass, it’s a top five golf course in the world for me,” he said.
“What I thought was really positive was I felt like early in the year I got off to a poor start. I didn’t play very well at Palm Springs. I pulled out because I felt like —-. Torrey, I played terrible, the worst I’ve played ever I felt like. Pebble got a little bit better. Riv got a little bit better. Bay Hill, the week before, I thought okay, this is nice. I do like Bay Hill because it’s hard. Obviously at Players, I felt like I’m playing to the point where I can win any tournament. So that to me was really nice and really assuring.
“You don’t have to play amazing, but you still put yourself in that position. You put yourself out there and sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t. But I felt like at least I gave it what I had and I loved being in that spot and in that position.
“Would I have done it a little different? Maybe, but I still like that I hit driver on 12. I still like that I went for it on 11. But I think looking back, I would have loved to slow things down a little bit. It’s almost like you get slapped and then you look up 20 minutes later and you’re four back. —-, what happened there? That’s kind of how it felt playing. From playing pretty good golf for the majority of the tournament to making a few mistakes and you get punished, and then you look back and you’re like oh, I can’t win any more.”
Aberg’s ability to bounce back makes him one to definitely watch at The Masters
There is an argument that Aberg should have won more, even at this early stage of his career. He is clearly so unbelievably talented, producing some hugely impressive performances.
He did not look out of place in either of his Ryder Cup appearances, while he finished second on his major championship debut at The Masters in 2024.
There is good reason to think that he will respond to his disappointment at TPC Sawgrass in impressive fashion.
In the early stages of the 2025 season, Aberg led the Farmers Insurance Open after a stunning 63 in the opening round at Torrey Pines. However, an illness put paid to his hopes of getting across the line and winning.
He subsequently withdrew from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after opening up with a 77.
But Aberg responded by winning the Genesis Invitational back at Torrey Pines on his next start.
When you consider that he has been in the mix late on Sunday to win The Masters on both of his previous two starts at Augusta National, it should really not come as a surprise if he bounces back from The Players and is a contender once again next month.
