Advertisement

Ludvig Åberg takes 2-shot lead into final round at Genesis Scottish Open

Åberg is searching for his second career PGA Tour win this week in Scotland

ryan young
Staff writer
·3 min read

Ludvig Åberg’s run isn’t slowing down.

Åberg, after he posted back-to-back 64s to open the week in North Berwick, Scotland, fired a 5-under 65 on Saturday at the Genesis Scottish Open. He’ll enter the final round at 17-under, which is good for a two-shot lead over the field in the last outing before the British Open.

Åberg, who entered Saturday with a one-shot lead, quickly pushed ahead with two birdies in his first three holes at The Renaissance Club. While he slipped slightly at the turn with back-to-back bogeys, he made a birdie on both ends of that run and then made two straight in his final three holes to retake the lead and eventually push it to two.

While the birdies were great, Åberg repeatedly saved par just about every time he slipped — including at the par-4 15th, when his drive went well right of the fairway. Åberg scrambled perfectly and went up-and-down from right in front of the greenside bunker to stay at 3-under on the day at the time.

And throughout it all, as a field tried to keep pace, Åberg knew right where he stood during the round.

“I like looking at leaderboards,” Åberg said. “I think it’s important to know where you’re standing, and I did that today, and I saw some really good scores early on. It makes you hungry and it makes you stay on the front foot and be aggressive, and felt like I did that well today.”

Åberg played in his first ever major championship in April, where he finished second at Augusta National in what was one of the best Masters debuts in recent history. After missing the cut at the PGA Championship, he then finished T12 at the U.S. Open last month. The missed cut at Valhalla was his only slip of the season, where he has six top-10 finishes and has climbed up to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The 24-year-old out of Sweden has won once on the PGA Tour, at last year’s RSM Classic. He won the Omega European Masters last year on the DP World Tour, too.

Outside of Åberg, Robert MacIntyre made one of the biggest moves of the day. The Scot went 7-under to jump into second with his 63, which will send him off in the final group with Åberg on Sunday.

“I've not been shy in saying it: The Scottish Open is the one I want,” MacIntyre said. “It's not going to change tomorrow. I'm in that position. I've been doing good things. I've been playing well. Not just this week but for the previous kind of eight weeks, I feel like my game has been in good shape. Tomorrow is just another round of golf, and I've just got to control me and if I do that well, then I'm going to be in with a chance.”

Adam Scott is right behind him at 14-under, while Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Sungjae Im and Antoine Rozner are tied at 13-under.

Åberg’s lead in Scotland isn’t huge. He’ll still need a very solid finish to grab what would be his second career win on Sunday afternoon. But regardless of how things shake out, whether MacIntyre can catch him or not, Åberg looks in great shape for the British Open next week at Royal Troon.

“Definitely excited,” he said. “It's fun to have an opportunity to win a golf tournament especially at a classic place here in Scotland, and looking forward to it.”