Three weeks earlier at Torrey Pines, Ludvig Åberg shared the 36-hole lead before suffering a severe stomach sickness that left him staggering to the finish with a 79. He had never felt worse leaving a golf course.
The same course, different tournament on Sunday felt so sweet because of that.
In The Genesis Invitational, Åberg was trailing by 3 strokes and running out of holes when he made 3 nearly flawless birdie putts on the par-5 18th hole to cap off his late comeback. He finished with a 6-under 66 and defeated Maverick McNealy by 1 shot.
Åberg took advantage of another opportunity at one of his favourite courses when the tournament was moved from Riviera to Torrey due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. He turned to caddie Joe Skovron at some point in the end and remarked, “This Sunday is a lot more fun than the last one we had. It was good to physically get there and start feeling like myself again. It’s very important. The best feeling in golf is this one, and being able to do what I did today will undoubtedly benefit me as I move forward.”
A few weeks ago, he visited the event host, Tiger Woods, at the indoor TGL in Florida, where Woods gave him the trophy, the 25-year-old Swede’s second PGA TOUR win and his third worldwide, putting him at No. 4 in the world.
“Knowing that I can go from where I was a few weeks ago to winning a tournament in a relatively short amount of time is really comforting.” he said.
McNealy, who won on the TOUR for the first time 3 months ago, had a close call. At Torrey Pines, he looked like a winner after making 8 birdies in 11 holes, including a 40-foot par putt on the first hole, and extending his lead to 3.
However, he failed to make a birdie on the 18th and had to struggle for par on the 17th after a shot that went off a pole and into a tough lie in the rough. Even though he shot 64, the Swede was still considered one of the game’s rising talents.
As he dealt with the loss of his mother, Kultida, last week, Woods watched a lot from the broadcast booth. In remembrance of his mother, players wore a red button featuring the Thai sign of love. Woods withdrew from the tournament on Monday.
On the 12th, Åberg made a 6-foot sliding par putt to start his impressive rally. To tie for the lead, he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 15th, attacked a formidable back pin on the 14th to 5 feet for birdie, then two-putted from 50 feet for birdie on the 13th.
On the par-5 18th, he shot a 7-wood long putt from about 70 feet out from the middle of the fairway, rolled it down to just under 7 feet, and sunk it comfortably.
“The fight was fantastic. I’m rather pleased with how I finalised. It was awesome.” Aberg said.
As the top-ranked collegiate golfer out of Texas Tech, Åberg finished at 12-under 276 and earned $4 million for his third victory globally since going pro in June 2023.
Scottie Scheffler tied Patrick Rodgers (71) for 3rd place with a 66, 10 shots ahead of the third round.
Scheffler’s 76 on Saturday, his highest in almost three years, put him five strokes behind. Despite this, he went for a quick run. He reached within one shot and finished in 31 with five birdies, including a chip-in on the fifth hole.
However, he made two blunders even though he couldn’t afford to make many. After holing a bunker shot for birdie on the 15th to stay in the game, he missed a par-saving bunker shot on the 16th after leaving a delicate, downhill chip in the rough on the par-3 11th and making bogey.
He finished by himself in third place after closing with a 66.
Scheffler and Rory McIlroy shared 5 strokes on the front 9 during their game. During the round, McIlroy was only able to laugh once and was unable to buy a putt. On the 18th, he finished with a 72 after making a bogey from the water.
In the last round, Rodgers and Denny McCarthy, who were in the last group, alternated being in the lead until the South course’s difficult back 9 caught up to them.
Rodgers never recovered after making bogeys on the eleventh and twelfth holes. After making eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, McCarthy took the lead. He didn’t make another birdie until the last hole, where he shot 71 to tie for 5th.
