With about a day left until the first round of the US Masters, Ludvig Åberg met with the media ahead of his third start in the major at Augusta.
A harmonious blue-and-yellow world-class star emerges after playing nine holes in the morning.
His form on the golf course - three straight top-5 finishes - speaks for itself. Åberg has also overcome the stomach problems that have occasionally bothered him.
I've been struggling with my stomach a bit over the last year. So I did some tests - food tests and blood tests - and came to the conclusion that gluten is a no-no. My sister and dad are gluten intolerant, so maybe it's something in the DNA and blood in the family. I feel much better when I don't eat gluten, so I think we'll continue with that, says Åberg.
Led both years
After second place in his debut and seventh place last year - both times he briefly shared the lead on Sunday - the player from Scania comes to Augusta this year as one of the big favorites.
During his nearly three-year professional career, Ludvig Åberg has been phenomenal at putting himself in good positions to win big competitions. He hasn't been quite as good at closing them out so far.
This became apparent as recently as a few weeks ago, when, after two visits to the water, he lost the lead and finished fifth in The Players.
The lesson from that?
I like that I put myself in a position to win. It almost felt like I lost control for 30 minutes - and then I looked up and was like, "Damn, I'm four behind." If I had to play the last nine holes again, I would have liked to slow things down a bit. Maybe take an extra bathroom break or an extra moment to slow things down.
But in tough conditions, you should be punished if you don't execute the shots.
Only Scheffler is better
The latter is especially true at Augusta National, the course where Ludvig Åberg has a scoring average of 70.38 so far. Of the 91 players in the Masters, only world number one Scottie Scheffler (70.33) tops that.
The 90th edition is also expected to be played in dry and tough conditions.
I thought it was a little faster today than yesterday. They're not expecting any rain but good weather, so they'll probably make it quite tough for us.
Does it benefit you?
Yes, I would say so. I play with high spin on my irons and hit the ball relatively high. So that's definitely an advantage when it gets hard and fast.
Åberg begins his first round at 7:08 p.m. on Thursday, local time in Sweden.
