Ludvig Aberg, who recently made the transition from amateur to professional golfer, will make his Ryder Cup debut for Europe after being selected as one of Luke Donald’s six wildcard picks on Monday.
On Sunday, the 23-year-old player, who didn’t become a professional until June of this year, won the European Masters in Switzerland.
Donald remarked, “I have faith in Ludvig; I think he’ll be a generational player.” “I think he’ll be a generational player.”
In addition to Nicolai Hojgaard and Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, and Justin Rose have all been selected for the 12-man team that will compete against the United States in Rome.
In the team for the biannual match that will take place at Marco Simone from September 29th to October 1st, they will be joining Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Robert MacIntyre, who have already qualified for one of the six spots that come with automatic qualification.
In addition to MacIntyre, Denmark’s Hojgaard and Austria’s Straka will be making their maiden appearances in the Ryder Cup. The 2019 Open champion, Shane Lowry, will be playing in Europe for the first time.
Following a record-setting loss to the United States at Whistling Straits in 2021, Europe will make an attempt to win back the Ryder Cup from the United States.
“I was completely floored by his performance.”
Given his lack of previous experience, the possibility that Aberg would be included had been a huge and exciting talking point before to the announcement that was made on Monday.
An good early tryout for a berth would have been shooting 65 and 67 alongside Donald in the opening two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this year.
And the former world number one amateur, who placed first in the PGA Tour University rankings to earn his card, confirmed his enormous promise at Crans-sur-Sierre in the final qualifying tournament to make the quickest transition from the amateur ranks to the Ryder Cup in the history of the competition. This was the fastest crossover from the amateur levels to the Ryder Cup.
“He’s going to be around for a long time and do amazing things,” Donald explained further.
“Even if he decided not to play this game, he was going to take part in the following eight. That’s how much I regard his abilities.
“He is capable of making some of the most incredible shots. If you look at his numbers for this year, he would be the number one driver in the world, ahead of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler; those are some pretty high standards for someone who has only recently graduated from college.
We were definitely aware of what he was up to in the university environment. When you consider what he accomplished throughout those four years, the only other players that come close to being comparable are Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm. That’s how talented he is. I had the opportunity to play with him in Detroit, and I was really taken away by his game.
Despite having won the Italian Open on the Ryder Cup course in May and currently sitting third in the DP World Tour rankings, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, who is 30 years old, was not chosen for the team.
“There were a handful of players who, despite not being on the team, you could make a compelling case for having been included. These are not easy choices,” Donald elaborated further.
“Having been there myself, I can attest to the fact that the experience is nothing short of excruciating. I had conversations with each of them, and although it is never simple, they handled the situation with grace.
