Tiger Woods has 15 major titles. (Image: Getty)
It has been a strong start to the year for Ludvig Aberg as the Swedish golf sensation continues to be compared to the great . The 25-year-old opened his season at The Sentry tournament in Hawaii, and immediately picked up where he left off from last season.
Aberg shot 268 for his four rounds, finishing tied for fifth place at 24-under par.
That left him 11 behind eventual winner Hideki Matsuyama, at the Kapalua Plantation Course.
Aberg still went home with £700k himself though, as well as 266 FedEx Cup points. And his ball striking was again on point, following fellow PGA professional Max Homa saying of Aberg’s technique: “If you could build a golf swing, I would build this one.”
The world No.4 has previously been compared to Woods for the way he has appeared unflappable after bursting onto the scene. He announced himself by winning the RSM Classic in November 2023, which led to PGA Tour reporter Sean Martin .
“A (real) conversation between two TOUR winners at Starbucks this morning,” he wrote on social media. “Player 1: ‘There is no world where we’d be able to beat Ludvig on a consistent basis’.”
Ludvig Aberg was tied for fifth at The Sentry. (Image: Getty)
“Player 2: “I didn’t really know who he was. After playing six holes with him, I thought he was the next f***ing Tiger Woods.”
And sure enough, since his performance at The Sentry, Aberg has left the great man impressed. He drained a monster putt to secure the first birdie of the newly formed TGL, after Woods had stood behind him during practice.
“He doesn’t do anything wrong in his golf swing,” said the 49-year-old. “You’re not gonna stop him from being one of the world’s best.”
Aberg is tipped to be one of the favourites when the first major tournament of the year, the , takes place at Augusta in April. He was second last time around behind world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, and was also tied for 12th at the .
He is also a certainty to represent Team Europe again when they look to defend their trophy at Bethpage in September.
In Rome in 2023, Aberg became just the second player to make a team during the same year as turning professional, and ended up winning three points for Luke Donald’s team.