Ludvig Aberg plan to wear a knee brace at this week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, a venue the Swedish star called a “big-boy golf course.”
Aberg explained to reporters on Wednesday that he withdrew from last week’s Wells Fargo Championship for precautionary reasons.
“Knee’s good. It was more of a safety concern last week that I didn’t play,” he said. “I’m consulting with my doctors and I trust them with everything that I have, so it’s not bothering me at all this week and I look forward to playing.”
The 24-year-old said he doesn’t expect to have any limitations Thursday when play begins on the 7,609-yard course.
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“I'm wearing a brace just for safety, but it's nothing that's bothering me,” he said. “I'm focusing on the golf.”
Aberg, the sixth-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, competed in his first major last month and finished second to Scottie Scheffler at the Masters. He followed that up with a tied 10th at the RBC Heritage.
He has played professionally for just 11 months since completing a strong collegiate career at Texas Tech and earning his card through the “PGA Tour University” pathway. In that time, he's made the European Ryder Cup team and won a tournament on both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.
“Obviously I'm still doing a lot of firsts when I'm playing these tournaments,” Aberg said. “Obviously this week is my first PGA Championship and only my second major. I'm feeling all these things that first-timers do, and it's the same thing for me. So I try to focus on the golf.
“At the end of the day, this is what I've been wanting to do since I was a little boy and I love doing it.”
Playing at Valhalla for the first time, Aberg acknowledged that the wet conditions so far this week and the length of the course suit his game.
“I think so. I mean, I like to think that I can hit it high and long. That way, you know, you take away a lot of those things, I guess. It's quite nice because the zoysia grass in the fairways, you can actually launch it pretty high with the irons because it's sitting up so high. You can get a little bit more smash on it.
“But yeah, I mean, once again, it’s a tough golf course. I think everyone is just trying to manage their game the best they can and see where it takes us on Sunday.”
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