Ludvig Åberg's love story with Augusta National continues. After last year's somewhat sensational second place in his first major, Åberg has put himself in a good position again now.
Saturday's 69 strokes – after the Swede birdied three holes in a row on 14, 15, and 16 – means a shared fourth place going into the final round.
"Really cool"
This time, he can also lean on the experiences from his debut.
Just knowing that I can be in this situation and play really good golf. I went out in one of the last groups last year and it was really cool to feel all the noise, all the tension and all the nerves and still be able to go out and shoot a good score. Hopefully, we can do it tomorrow too and see how far it takes us, says Åberg, who has managed to shoot under 70 strokes in four of his seven Masters rounds.
What is it that makes you thrive so well on Augusta?
Good question. I think the course requires a lot of patience and discipline. Sometimes it's good to hit the ball to ten meters from the flag and two-putt. Hole 17 today is an example. It's a different type of golf, but a challenge that I enjoy.
Ludvig Åberg's impressive calmness was shown not least on Saturday, where he didn't get stressed when the distance to the lead seemed to be getting too long in the middle of the round.
The Scanian knows that it can swing quickly on the challenging and capricious course – and Åberg's patience will be important also during the final drama.
Six strokes behind McIlroy
Augusta is a cool place, because you never really know what's going to happen. There are a few strokes on the back nine that can go either way.
Åberg's –6 means that he has a bit of a way up to the star duo in the lead, Rory McIlroy on –12 and Bryson DeChambeau on –10.
Somewhere we might have to step on the gas a bit more on the back nine. But apart from that, it's hard to play this golf course in a different way, and that will be my method tomorrow too.
Ludvig Åberg tees off together with Australian Jason Day in the third last group, at 20.10 on Sunday evening Swedish time.
This is how the final groups start in the US Masters (results in parentheses):
20.10, Swedish time: Ludvig Åberg (–6), Jason Day, Australia (–5).
20.20: Corey Conners, Canada (–8), Patrick Reed, USA (–6).
20.30: Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland (–12), Bryson DeChambeau, USA (–10).
