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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Ludvig Åberg added to his astonishing second half of the yr when he closed with a second straight 9-under 61 on Sunday to win the RSM Basic, his first PGA Tour title to associate with a European tour victory and a profitable debut within the Ryder Cup.
And to assume the 24-year-old Swede was nonetheless at Texas Tech six months in the past.
“Past my goals,” Aberg mentioned. “It has been six months I will always remember.”
Not solely did he win the ultimate occasion of the PGA Tour season, he did it in document vogue. His closing birdie allowed Aberg to tie the 72-hole scoring document on the PGA Tour, matching the 253 of Justin Thomas on the 2017 Sony Open.
His 61-61 end set the tour document for lowest closing 36 holes, beating by one the mark shared by Matt Jones at Kapalua in 2022 and Patrick Rodgers at Sea Island in 2019.
“I feel the sky is the restrict,” mentioned Mackenzie Hughes, who gave Aberg a spirited battle with a 63 and could not sustain. “He is obtained the entire package deal. Acquired an excellent demeanor, does not get too up or down. I am positive we’ll see quite a lot of him for the subsequent few years.”
Aberg seized management with three straight birdies, one in every of them when he fearlessly drove over the marsh on the 407-yard fifth gap to 30 toes, after which held off Hughes, a hard-luck sufferer. Hughes shot 60-63 on the weekend and completed 4 photographs behind.
Even after making his solely bogey of the week, on the twelfth gap of the Seaside course at Sea Island, Aberg answered each problem.
He was two photographs forward when Hughes hit a nifty pitch to tap-in vary for birdie on the fifteenth. Aberg was in the midst of a deep bunker with a decent pin and splashed that out to 4 toes for an identical birdie.
He all however clinched it with a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventeenth, and for good measure he rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the finish to place his title within the document e book.
Aberg gave a quick, sweeping fist pump when the final birdie putt fell, a uncommon show of emotion. He mentioned he considers being in competition a privilege, and he seems the half with a candy smile and a killer intuition.
“That is what you dream of as a child,” Aberg mentioned. “That is the game I really like and am going to like for a very long time. If you happen to advised me this a few months in the past, I might not imagine you. To be on this place, I have to pinch myself within the arm.”
It was the shot on the par-4 fifth, which bends onerous to the precise across the marsh, that caught with Hughes.
“He is sort of the modern-day participant. I imply, No. 5 might be the prime instance of that,” Hughes mentioned. “I am taking part in left of that bunker and he flies it on the inexperienced and two-putts for birdie. So tremendous spectacular shot to not solely hit it lengthy however to hit that straight.”
Aberg was assured of a PGA Tour card for 2024 because the No. 1 participant from the PGA Tour College rating after his senior yr at Texas Tech.
Within the 14 tournaments he performed since June — three on the European tour — he received on the PGA Tour and had three different high 10s, together with a playoff loss. He did not end worse than a tie for tenth on the European tour, profitable the European Masters in Switzerland to all however seal his spot on the Ryder Cup group.
Aberg and Viktor Hovland teamed at Marco Simone for a 9-and-7 foursomes win over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, a Ryder Cup document for margin of victory.
The victory at Sea Island strikes him to No. 32 on the earth. He earned a spot on the Masters, together with a spot at Kapalua in The Sentry to begin the yr. He additionally would seem like a shoo-in for PGA Tour rookie of the yr. The opposite high candidate, Eric Cole, performed within the closing group with Aberg and shot 67 to tie for third with Tyler Duncan (65).
“When he was taking part in in addition to he was, it may be onerous to catch him,” Cole mentioned.
Aberg completed at 29-under 253, breaking by seven photographs the event document because it moved to 2 programs, the par-72 Plantation and the par-70 Seaside.
Ryan Moore picked up a considerable comfort prize. He birdied the seventeenth and closed with a 65 to tie for eighth, simply sufficient for him to complete within the high 125 within the FedEx Cup and hold his full card for 2024. He mentioned the nerves had been “near what I felt attempting to win a golf event coming down the stretch.”
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