Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg enforced his ‘star’ status with his first win on the PGA Tour on Sunday at The RSM Classic in Georgia. The 24-year-old, who only turned professional in June this year, produced back-to-back 61s on the weekend for a stunning four-shot victory over Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes.
Ludvig, who ended his illustrious amateur career as world No. 1, recorded his maiden win as a professional at the DP World Tour’s Omega European Masters in September. He was then selected as a captain’s pick by Luke Donald for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup having not made a start at a major championship. Aberg partnered Viktor Hovland in the Saturday foursome session against world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka. The Scandinavian duo smashed the Americans 9&7 to set a new record for the largest winning margin in an 18-hole Ryder Cup match.
Aberg shot rounds of 67, 64, 61 & 61 at Sea Island Golf Club to reach 29-under. His pair of 61s on Saturday and Sunday matched the PGA Tour record of 122 for any consecutive rounds. His breakthrough PGA Tour victory arrived at just his 16th start on that tour.
Hughes carded a flawless 7-under 63 final round to reach 25-under for outright second place. America’s Tyler Duncan and Eric Cole finished three shots further back at 22-under for a share of third place. Defending champion Canada’s Adam Svensson fired a stunning 8-under 62 on Sunday to get to 19-under and share fifth place with Americans Ben Kohles, Denny McCarthy and Taylor Montgomery.
Tour veterans Aaron Baddeley and Cameron Percy were the only Australians to make the cut. Baddeley finished T64 at 8-under. Percy was 77th at 3-under.
The 2024 PGA Tour season will commence on January 4 with The Sentry at Kapalua, Hawaii. Spain’s Jon Rahm is the defending champion.
Final Scores
The RSM Classic
1. Ludvig Aberg -29
2. Mackenzie Hughes -25
T3. Tyler Duncan -22
T3. Eric Cole -22
T5. Adam Svensson -19
T5. Ben Kohles -19
T5. Denny McCarthy -19
Australians
T64. Aaron Baddeley -8
77. Cameron Percy -3
MC. Harrison Endycott
MC. Greg Chalmers
Photo credit: Sam Greenwood/ Getty Images
