AUGUSTA, Ga. − For the second day in a row at the Masters Tournament, Ludvig Åberg did a fine job of bouncing back from adversity at the Augusta National Golf Club.
A native of Sweden who has set up residence just outside Ponte Vedra Beach near the TPC Sawgrass, Åberg turned in two magnificent shots on the final holes on each of Augusta’s nines and with a 2-under 70 went to the weekend at even par 144, five shots behind morning wave leader Justin Rose (69) at 5-under 139.
Tyrrell Hatton (66) and Wyndham Clark (68) are tied for 4-under and Brooks Koepka (69) and Chris Gotterup (69) are tied at 3-under.
Two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had a stunningly poor performance on the par-5 holes of Augusta’s second nine, dousing his second shots at No. 13 (short) and No. 15 (long) in the water and finished with a 74 and a 36-hole score of 144 − tying with Åberg and Brian Campbell (73).
Defending champion Rory McIlroy made three early birdies and a bogey, playing in the second-to-last group of the day.
Ludvig Åberg keeps bouncing back
In the first round, Åberg followed a double bogey at No. 13 with a clean card over the last five holes. He nearly holed a wedge shot at the par-4 14th, starting a string of five greens in regulation in a row. His opening 74 could have been a lot worse.
Åberg began the day with a birdie at No. 2 but failed to get up and down after missing the sixth and seventh greens.
No matter. He hit two good shots at the par-5 eighth and chipped to within 4 feet to set up a birdie, then stopped a wedge shot from 114 yards out at No. 9 just inches from the hole, giving him a tap-in birdie.
“I couldn’t see it from the bottom of the slope,” Åberg said of the second shot at the ninth. “By the reactions [of the patrons], it looked like it was pretty close. But any time you hit it to like that, I’ll take it.”
He safely navigated the gauntlet of Nos. 10, 11 and 12 with two-putt pars and added two more pars at Nos. 13 and 14. Åberg tapped in for a birdie at No. 15 after a nice wedge shot from 102 yards out, but after a par at No. 16, he three-putted the 17th for bogey from 44 feet, after his second shot from the second cut on the left of the fairway landed on the green and kicked right.
“To be fair, I was just pleased I had somewhat of a shot into that green,” he said. “I know that left side gets blocked out by trees pretty quickly and I was trying to hook a 50-degree [wedge] around the trees. I hit it nice to be able to cover that bunker but misjudged the speed. Thought it was going to be a lot faster going down that hill.”
Despite that, Åberg was kicking himself for leaving his first putt 13 feet short.
“Silly three-putt,” he said.
Åberg closed with a birdie
His drive at No. 18 found the fairway bunker but Åberg lofted a 7-iron from 160 yards out to 7 feet behind the hole, and rolled it in for birdie to cap the round.
Åberg hit 15 greens and 10 fairways, and seems on the verge of a special round, with a break or two going his way. He appears on the verge of a special day. He’s hitting fairways and greens, and if he can heat up his putter (he had 31 putts in the second round), a round like his 63 to take charge at The Players Championship last month might be possible.
“I think Augusta National is a hard place, especially when the greens are like they are,” he said. “If you can sort of limit the mistakes as much as you can and take advantage of the opportunities that you get, I think that’s a good thing. I’m pleased with responding the way I did after six, seven. Overall, yeah, I thought it was a good day.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ludvig Åberg keeps bouncing back from adversity at Augusta National
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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