Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard shine in Czech Masters Round 2, strengthen their Ryder Cup hopes
Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard are having a strong showing at the Czech Masters. They shot 6 under 66 and 5 under 67 in the second round respectively, to keep their hopes alive for the European Ryder Cup team.
Hojgaard was leading the table after the first two rounds. On the first day, he shot a spectacular round of 7 under 65. He started with two consecutive birdies and followed with an eagle on the tenth hole. His final scorecard also included six birdies and a bogey. In the second round, he shot five birdies to a score of 5 under.
Meanwhile, Ludvig Aberg's Czech Masters campaign started with an eagle on the first hole. He settled up with a final score of 4 under 68 after the end of the first round. In the second round, Aberg shot seven birdies and bogey to get a 6 under 66 in his second-day scorecard.
What did Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard say after their respective second round?
The first two rounds of the Czech Masters saw the two youngsters dominating the entire field. While Hogjaard led the table with 12 under, Aberg wasn't long behind him and had a 10 under score.
After completing the second-round play, Nicolai Hojgaard spoke with Sky Sports and spoke about putting forward a strong contention for the upcoming Ryder Cup.
"I mean, I can't describe how much I want to be on that team, but the only thing I can do at the moment is try to play good golf, do the work and just do the best I can and hopefully that'll be enough," he told Golf Monthly.
Hogjaard added that everyone on the Czech Masters field is trying to get themselves under the radar of European captain Luke Donald. However, he felt that all they could do right now was to play the best and hope for better outcomes.
"Everyone in this field wants to play in the Ryder Cup and you can feel it that it's getting closer, but all you can really do is focus on yourself, do your preparation and go and do your best and then hopefully we can be in Luke's mind when we get to it after Switzerland," he added.
Meanwhile, Aberg, who ended up tied for fourth on the leaderboard, spoke with Sky Sports and shared having "pretty high expectations" of himself as a competitor.
"I try to take it for what it is. I'm going to have pretty high expectations on myself no matter what the situation is - as a competitor that's how it should be," he said.
Both Nicolai Hogjaard and Ludvig Aberg played the first two rounds together at the ongoing Czech Masters. The latter praised Hogjaard and added that he tried to do everything the Danish golfer was doing.
"Nicolai played great both today and yesterday. He's a really good player and whatever he did I tried to do and it turned out pretty good," Aberg said.
The 44th Ryder Cup is scheduled at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, later next month from September 29 to October 1. Luke Donald is appointed as the European team captain, meanwhile, Zach Johnson will lead the United States team.