Ludvig Åberg Reflects on Disappointing Finish at US Masters

It was a crazy Sunday in Masters, which offered a golf drama that had almost everything.

Among other things, a Swede was leading with just two holes left.

But also a collapse afterwards, which made Ludvig Åberg drop to seventh place.

Åberg otherwise had a cannon start to the day with a birdie directly on the first hole. New birdies on the sixth and tenth holes took him to a shared second place.

And it would get even more exciting when Rory McIlroy started to wobble in the lead. When Åberg stepped off the 16th green, he did so in a shared lead with both McIlroy and Justin Rose, on ten under par.

"Aggressive putt"

The green jacket was within reach for last year's runner-up from Eslöv.

When Ludvig Åberg walked up along the 17th fairway, a deafening cheer erupted simultaneously on hole 15 right next to it, when McIlroy hit an incredible second shot to just a few meters from the pin.

McIlroy missed the putt, but still made birdie. And when Åberg then putted on the 17th, he became a little too aggressive. The birdie putt was too long and the Swede missed the return for par.

It was an aggressive putt and I can be okay with that, I tried to set it and knew I had to chase, says Åberg.

Justin Rose simultaneously made a birdie on the 18th to finish on eleven under par.

Åberg's chance of winning was practically gone, and then it was as if the air went out of the Scanian, who finished with a rare triple bogey where everything went wrong.

"Joy to play"

The disappointment made Åberg finish seventh on –6, after a par round (72 strokes) on the last day. He was visibly bitten when he stepped off Augusta National's 18th green, but tried to hold his head high when he later would summarize the week.

It's a joy to play this course and be here with fantastic weather and great crowds. It's fun to have a top feeling and feel all that comes with it. I look forward to doing it more times.

With hindsight, it would have been enough for Ludvig Åberg to finish the last two holes one under par to reach the playoff with Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy had a huge opportunity to complete his long-awaited "career grand slam" already on the 18th hole, but burned a short putt to win.

When he got a new chance in the playoff – on the same hole – McIlroy sank the birdie putt that secured the win.

2025: Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland.

2024: Scottie Scheffler, USA.

2023: Jon Rahm, Spain.

2022: Scheffler.

2021: Hideki Matsuyama, Japan.

2020: Dustin Johnson, USA.

2019: Tiger Woods, USA.

2018: Patrick Reed, USA.

2017: Sergio García, Spain.

2016: Danny Willett, England.

1. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, –11 (winner after playoff).

2. Justin Rose, England, –11.

3. Patrick Reed, USA, –9.

4. Scottie Scheffler, USA, –8.

5. Sungjae Im, South Korea, and Bryson DeChambeau, USA, –7.

6. Ludvig Åberg, Sweden, –6.