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Ludvig Aberg included in Luke Donald's Captain Picks
Ryder Cup Rookie to make European debut
Luke Donald has selected Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Højgaard, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka as his six Captain’s Picks to complete his 12-man European Team for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.
The 23-year-old, who only turned professional in June, won the European Masters in Switzerland on Sunday.
"I have faith in Ludvig - I think he'll be a generational player," said Donald.
A rising star in world golf, Ludvig Åberg produced a statement performance as he birdied four of his final five holes to land his first professional title at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland - the final Team Europe qualifying event.
It came a week after the former Number One in the World Amateur Golf Ranking finished in a tie for fourth in his first regular DP World Tour event since joining the pro ranks at the D+D REAL Czech Masters. Prior to that, the 23-year-old Swede made history earlier this year as the first player to secure a PGA TOUR card via collegiate merit, finishing top of the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking after making a name for himself at Texas Tech.
He finished in a tie for 25th on his first start as a professional at the RBC Canadian Open in June and registered his first top ten as a professional with a tie for fourth at the John Deere Classic in July.
His form in his short professional career so far - and his undoubted talent - is such that he has shown enough to impress Luke Donald and his backroom team to earn a Captain’s Pick.
Team and Match Play experience
While in the amateur ranks, Åberg racked up plenty of matchplay experience.
He represented his country on three occasions at the European Amateur Team Championship, forming part of the winning side on home soil in 2019 as they overcame England.
At the Arnold Palmer Cup, he would play his part in helping the International Team to victory over the United States in both 2020 and 2022.
In the first of those appearances, he enjoyed a perfect record from his four matches in the mixed team competition.
"He's going to be around a long time and do amazing things," European captain Luke Donald said.
"If he wasn't going to play this one, he was going to play the next eight. That's how good I think he is.
"He hits some of the most amazing shots. If you look at his statistics this year he would be the number one driver in the world ahead of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, and those are pretty high standards for someone just coming out of college.
"We obviously knew what he was doing in the college scene. You look at what he did in those four years and the only comparable players really were Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm. He is that good. I played with him in Detroit and was blown away by his game."
