You only need to rewind to the beginning of June 2023. Ludvig Åberg played his first competition as a professional, the Canadian Open, the same week Alex Norén played the Scandinavian Mixed at home in Ullna.
Norén, then ranked 64th in the world, was the only Swede in the top 100.
Now, just over two and a half years later, the situation is completely different.
Thanks to Ludvig Åberg's meteoric rise and 43-year-old Alex Norén's rebirth last year, Sweden has two stars at the top of the world rankings. Ahead of this week's PGA Tour event in La Quinta, Norén is ranked 13th in the world, Åberg is 18th.
“Sometimes a lonely world”
The blue-and-yellow aces have also found each other as friends along the way. They competed together in both the Olympics in Paris and in the Ryder Cup in New York last year, where Norén was vice-captain.
"I think they fit together well, like two friends out there in a sometimes lonely world. It's often the little things around golf that are much more important than you might realize," says Peter Hanson, and he continues:
There's something special when you have a Swede next to you who you can compete against and compete with, but still sometimes lean on. They're almost 20 years (17) apart. But both Alex and Ludvig are inspired by each other, which is awesome.
48-year-old former pro Hanson remains in Åberg's circle, although his role as a mentor has become less important as the 26-year-old from Eslöv has become more prominent.
“Strong fall season”
Last year's season had a couple of early peaks, followed by a slump before Åberg found his game again at the end of the year.
You can't forget that he had a pretty big knee operation at the end of 2024, which was more disruptive than you might have thought. I think he came back very well and had a pretty strong fall season. Above all, he found some detail in his putting that reached a slightly higher level throughout the fall - and it showed in the results lists too, says Peter Hanson.
Åberg is going hard, with four tournaments in five weeks. Then there is just over a month left until the first major of the year, the US Masters in early April.
"The fact that he finished last season on a high is always nice. Now it will be important to get off to a good start and then, above all, have a good run-up to Augusta," says Hanson.
Carl Goransson/TT
Facts: The PGA Tour
TT
+ The season kicked off last week in Hawaii, where PGA Tour debutant Pontus Nyholm was the lone Swede in the starting field. Nyholm missed the qualifying cutoff then, but will compete again starting on Thursday in La Quinta, California.
+ Alex Norén and Ludvig Åberg are the other Swedes in the starting field.
+ Another person making his season debut is American world number one Scottie Scheffler.
+ Swedes' starting times (Thursday, local time in Sweden): 17:41: Ludvig Åberg, 17:52: Pontus Nyholm, 19:09: Alex Norén.
