"THAT CROWD MADE US FEEL LIKE WE WERE ROCK STARS"

Luke Donald raised an eyebrow or two when he picked fledgling pro Ludvig Aberg last time, but his well-researched hunch paid dividends. Here, we look back with the Swede on his rapid rise to Ryder Cup glory...

- Robin Barwick

When Luke Donald announced his 2023 European Ryder Cup team, Ludvig Aberg was among his picks, not even three months after turning professional. It was an audacious selection. “Ludvig is just starting to write his history,” said Donald at the time. “I think he’s a generational talent.”

Aberg turned pro in June 2023, shortly after winning his second straight Big 12 individual title at Texas Tech. The young Swede had held the No.1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings for 29 weeks, and was the first ever recipient of a PGA Tour card via the PGA Tour University programme.

That July, he was paired with Donald for the first two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. It was as if Aberg was being swept along by a whirlwind, yet the impressively calm and measured rookie, 23 years old at the time, kept his stance firmly planted on the ground.

With the Ryder Cup two months away, Donald had six picks to contemplate, and Aberg was the hottest European prospect to emerge from the college circuit since Spain's Jon Rahm in 2016. Donald had heard that this 6ft 3in college champ swung the club like Adam Scott, drove the ball like Rory McIlroy and had the temperament of Scottie Scheffler. As Aberg's coach at Texas Tech, Greg Sands, put it, "God put together the perfect human being for golf."

"He was nine-under through 16 holes," recalled Donald. The Englishman, who played on four winning European Ryder Cup teams, was preparing for his first crack at captaincy during that round in Detroit. Now, two years after Europe's victory in Rome, he is winding up for a return leg at Bethpage State Park on Long Island in New York this September.