Ludvig Aberg’s collapse on the back nine at The Players Championship on Sunday shocked pretty much everyone.
Aberg led by three strokes heading into the final round of The Players at TPC Sawgrass last week.
The Swede was in sublime form throughout the week in Ponte Vedra Beach, especially on Friday when he fired a scintillating score of nine-under-par 63.
Aberg has one of the most enviable swings in golf and his elite ball-striking reached an even higher level than usual during the first three rounds of The Players Championship.
However, everything that could go wrong for the 26-year-old on the back nine at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday went wrong.
Aberg made some really poor decisions at The Players on Sunday down the stretch and his caddie has been criticized for failing to intervene when he pulled driver out of the bag on the 12th tee.
To his eternal credit, Aberg faced up to the media after losing out at The Players, and many other golfers on the PGA Tour could learn a lot from him in that department.
Ludvig Aberg’s playing partner on Sunday at The Players blamed for his downfall
Aberg was paired with Michael Thorbjornsen for the final round of The Players.
The two know each other very well after competing against one another in college golf. Interestingly, they were the two top graduates from the PGA Tour University program in 2023 and 2024.
However, it has been claimed that Thorbjornsen was not a great playing partner for Aberg.
Johnson Wagner was speaking about the final round of The Players during an appearance on the Golf on CBS show.
“In the high winds with the greens turning brown, it was an awesome TV.
“In the case of Ludvig Aberg, I think the pairing with Michael Thorbjornsen was a little bit too comfortable.
“I didn’t think Michael was gonna be able to hang in there, he just hadn’t been in that situation enough.
“They’re also really close friends.
“So, you almost needed someone that you didn’t want to be all buddy buddy with.
“That would get you in your zone, and literally I think it was unfortunate, just, uh, too much comfort, and in a situation where you’re gonna have a lot of stress, you need to be able to embrace that.”
What Ludvig Aberg can improve to go to the next level
I understand the point that Wagner is trying to make.
However, Aberg is a consummate professional and I don’t think it would have mattered who he was paired with on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
Aberg has a history of struggling to get over the line in big tournaments.
The fact that he’s won only twice in his career on the PGA Tour tells its own story, given his tremendous talent.
He needs to figure out a way to be more ruthless during final rounds when he has a chance to win.
It’s fair to argue that the man from Sweden could improve with his shot selection and decision making during crunch time as well.
His technical ability in all aspects of the game is second to none. Now he just needs to improve his mentality to take a step up to the next level.