Ludvig Åberg was impressed by Rory McIlroy’s performance last week as he won for the fourth time at Quail Hollow and insists he has no injury concerns after withdrawing from the Wells Fargo Championship due to a knee issue.
“Knee’s good. It was more of a safety concern last week that I didn’t play. 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,” said the Swede who finished second at the Masters last month in his major championship debut.
“I’m wearing a brace just for safety reasons, but it’s nothing that’s bothering me. I’m focusing on the golf.”
McIlroy called for Åberg’s inclusion on last September’s European Ryder Cup team before he became the first player to play in a Ryder Cup without making a major appearance and the 24-year-old has continued to impress and is one of the favourites to lift the Wanamaker Trophy in Valhalla this week.
“Augusta is such a special place, and you can just feel that just walking into the whole — walking into the grounds. Felt like I really enjoyed it. I feel like a big thing for me when I’m playing golf is try to enjoy it and try to have fun. Once I’m not having fun, I think that’s when it goes downhill.
“But I think that’s how I try to treat every tournament, but I think playing in contention at Augusta makes that a little bit easier,” added Åberg who has Rickie Fowler’s former caddie Joe Skovron who was on the bag for the American when the PGA Championship was last in Valhalla ten years ago.
The Swedish golfer feels comfortable at Valhalla despite only seeing it for the first time this week and feels the zoysia grass suits him.
“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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