“Everyone’s going to be nervous on the first tee”: Ludvig Aberg complements Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald’s game plan
Ludvig Aberg was part of Luke Donald's Ryder Cup-winning European team at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club just a few weeks ago. Despite the absence of stalwarts players Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, and Ian Poulter, the comparatively younger European side pulled out a 5-point victory over the visitors at their home venue.
In a recent GOLF’s Subpar episode, Aberg spoke with the co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz and shared the influence of Donald and how the latter managed to leave absolutely no sign of lack of leadership. He was quoted by Golf.com as saying:
"Everyone's going to be nervous on the first tee. Everyone's going to be, you know, excited about playing. But if they can give me a tip on how to, you know, maybe handle that or whatever, that can go a long way."
Ludvig Aberg also shared that despite the absence of stalwart players, they still had experienced golfers such as Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose on the European Side. He emphasized how Luke Donald did a sensational job at the 2023 Ryder Cup and maintained an equilibrium between experienced and younger people.
"That's what Luke did such a good job of. I mean, he did a lot of things very well. But I do feel like there was a nice dynamic between experience, between younger people, between— you know, obviously I was world-class too, but, you know, a guy like Rory, a guy like Justin [Rose] with all these experience that they have," Aberg added.
"Everyone's feeling the same emotions" - Ludvig Aberg reveals his thoughts on playing his first-ever Ryder Cup
The 44th edition of the prestigious biennial event saw sheer dominance from the relatively younger European side. On the very first day of the tournament at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, they did not concede a single victory to Team United States, which itself was a record, as it happened for the first time in history.
Speaking on the GOLF’s Subpar, Ludvig Aberg shared that coming in as a young golfer on the side, he tried to listen to all the experienced players such as captain Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and others.
He added that regardless of Ryder Cup experience, everyone felt the same amount of emotions and pressure. He was quoted by Golf.com as saying:
"For me kind of coming in younger, doesn't really have any experience at all in those situations. And I try to listen to them as much as I can and try to pick their brains as much as I can and understand what — because everyone's feeling the same emotions, whether you played six or you played one."
Ludvig Aberg played four matches in the 2023 Ryder Cup and ended with an overall record of 2-2-0. He partnered alongside Viktor Hovland in both the foursome matches and won them.
Interestingly, the 23-year-old was part of a record record-breaking foursome match, where, alongside Hovland, he defeated Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka by a 9 & 7 margin.