This week, the eyes of the sports world will be on Augusta, Georgia, where the 89th playing of The Masters is taking place. Hoping to win his first major tournament at that storied course is Texas Tech golf alum Ludvig Aberg.
A year ago, the native of Sweden came close to shocking the world and winning a green jacket in his Masters debut (the first major he ever competed in). He finished second overall at -7, four shots behind Texas native Scottie Scheffler. Thus, expectations are high for Aberg in this year's event.
Fortunately, Aberg got off to a solid start on Thursday. Firing a -4, 68 to being his Masters, he currently sits tied for second place.
"It was a nice round of golf," Aberg said on the ESPN broadcast following his round. "I was talking to my caddie, Joe, walking up 18, and it was a nice executed round of golf where we had some numbers sort of in between. I feel like we managed it in a really nice way.
"It's a cool place to go play golf at, and it demands discipline, and I was proud of the way I hung in there today and managed to finish up nicely on the back nine."
The broadcast shared the note that Aberg has played five rounds at The Masters in his career, and he's -11 during that time. That's the best under par any player has ever been in his first five rounds at The Masters.
Aberg ended his day three shots behind the leader, 44-year-old Justin Rose, who was magnificent on Thursday, shooting -7, 65. Meanwhile, Aberg is joined in second place by Scheffler and Corey Conners. Right on his heels at -3 are SMU product and two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau and Englishman Tyrrell Hatton.
Aberg got off to an eventful start. After making par on the first two holes, he had a birdie on No. 3 only to give that shot right back with a bogey on No. 4.
He would then play par golf until hole 12, when he really found his groove. Making birdies on 12, 13, 15, and 18, he shot a 30 on the back nine to put him in contention.
Leading up to the Masters, Aberg had struggled some. In February, he had to withdraw from the AT&T Pro-AM at Pebble Beach due to illness. Then, in each of the two tournaments leading up to The Masters, The Players Championship and The Valero Texas Open, he missed the cut.
Still, he sits in seventh place in the FedEx Cup standings, and he has already earned nearly $5 million in winnings in 2025. That was largely because of his win at The Genesis Invitational back in early February.
One of seven players since 1980 to finish in second place in his first Masters, Aberg has now put himself in a position to contend again this year. He tees off early Friday morning at 8:58 a.m. Central. Hopefully, he can stay locked in and position himself to be a factor over the weekend as he looks to win the first of what will likely be many majors in his career.