The Open 2024: Ludvig Aberg on ‘dream come true’ to play first Championship at Royal Troon

It is scarcely believeable that this is Ludvig Aberg’s first crack at an Open Championship.

Such has been the meteoric rise of the likeable Swede since he turned professional 13 months ago, that it feels like he’s been around for years.

Aberg enjoyed a sensational start, with a victory on the DP World Tour before playing a starring role in Europe’s electrifying Ryder Cup victory over the United States in Rome.

Captain Luke Donald selected Aberg as one of his six wildcard picks, making him the first player to compete in a Ryder Cup before playing in a major.

He then won on the PGA Tour in November to cap an extraordinary six months.

This year has brought major championship challenges for the 24-year-old, who has impressed in two of his first three, and jumped to fourth in the world rankings – he was outside the top 3,000 at the start of 2023.

Aberg made a stunning debut at the Masters in April, comfortably finishing the best of the rest as Scottie Scheffler romped to the title. A missed cut at the US PGA Championship followed but he led the US Open at halfway before faltering a little to finish joint 12th.

So, on to this week at Royal Troon. He told BBC Sport “it will be a dream come true to play on Thursday”, while referencing his fellow Swede Henrik Stenson’s titanic tussle with Phil Mickelson the last time the Ayrshire links hosted the Championship in 2016.

“It feels like I’ve been here from watching the last time in 2016,” he said of Stenson’s victory.

“It’s been a long time coming. I’ve tried qualifying a few times but never really been there so it’s cool to be here.”

Aberg visited the course last Monday for a practice round. “It was cool to see the yellow leaderboards and the big grandstands on the 18th,” he said.

“It’s the major closest to home. I love the history, and this is the tournament with most history.”