The stud arrived in the press tent at 4.30pm, led by a rush of sweaty and dishevelled sports journalists, and followed, a few seconds later, by a camera crew, who are trailing him for the Netflix documentary Full Swing. Square-jawed, square-shouldered, straight-backed, slim and 6ft-plenty, he arranged himself at the top table, flicked his pale grey eyes up from under the brim of his cap, and shot a brilliant white smile around the room. It was, he explained, “cool” to be here, “really cool”. There was a crash at the back. Maybe somebody had fainted.
Most players here pull crowds because of what they’ve done in the majors. Ludvig Åberg does because of what he hasn’t. He is 23, four months out of college, and hasn’t even started a major yet. It is an extraordinary story. But then he is, they say, an extraordinary player. Åberg is only the second in history, after Jon Rahm, to win two Ben Hogan awards for the best college player in the USA. Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, has repeatedly described him as “a generational talent”. His decision to make him a rookie pick ought to be a risk, but no one in the game believes it is.
