MODERATOR: I would like to welcome Ludvig Aberg to the interview room. It’s been a pretty exciting last few minutes. Our 2025 Genesis Invitational champion, 66 final round to win by a stroke, you move to No. 1 in the FedExCup, your second victory on Tour. What sort
of emotions are you feeling right now?
LUDVIG ABERG: A lot. It was a really cool finish to a great week. I’ve had my girlfriend here all week, my coach came in Friday night, I’ve had some other guys on my team being with me all week. It was really cool and it felt like we did it together. I had tremendous help with Joe, my caddie, today. Yeah, it feels really cool.
MODERATOR: It’s the Genesis Invitational, we’re at a different venue than we typically are but you were here three weeks ago, got ill on the weekend, were right in the mix at the start. Does it feel like a little bit of redemption after what happened?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, I would say so. I felt like I had a good chance of winning that tournament but wasn’t really feeling like myself the last couple days. I don’t like pulling out of tournaments, but I felt like I had to at Pebble just to give myself some time to recover and be ready for this one. Sort of knowing how last week was at home, basically a little bit of survival mode, but to come here to win this event is really special.
Q. Ludvig, Maverick was on a heater at the start of his round. Were you aware of what he was doing and if so, was it kind of hard for you to kind of keep at it when it seems like this guy’s sort of running away the tournament?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, I definitely saw what he was doing, I looked at all the leaderboards that I could. Obviously I think he got to 12 pretty early and I was sort of stuck at 7, 8, something like that. Had a big putt on 12 for par, probably a six-, seven-footer left to right that I made. I think if I hadn’t made that one, I don’t think I would have won today. And then sort of knowing that 13 is a reachable par 5 and sort of struggled with the tee shot on 14 yesterday, it was nice to hit a nice draw in the fairway and top it off with a couple birdies as well coming in. Really cool, but all I tried to do once I saw that he posted 11 was just to get to 12 really.
Q. Ludvig, you had the bogeys on 4, 5, then maybe a frustrating 6 as well. Walk me through I guess what happened there and then what do you have to do after that to kind of get back to where you —
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, I definitely felt like I made three bogeys in a row, 4, 5, 6., but I also felt like the bogeys, they were not great bogeys but I still felt like I was sort of in control of what I was doing. I felt like ever since yesterday I was in control of my ball flight. It’s a nice feeling knowing that I didn’t get ahead of myself. I was sort of focused on the things that I could focus on and then knowing that you’ll get a lot of chances as long as you’re executing the shots, really pleased with the way I finished today.
Q. Luddy, what’s the most meaningful thing about this win in particular?
LUDVIG ABERG: I think it’s just sort of the comeback from the last couple weeks. I sort of felt like I wasn’t really myself, wasn’t feeling great, wasn’t swinging great, sort of struggled a bit at home last week with how I was playing. Was nice to come here sort of starting to feel like myself again and physically getting there. It means a lot. This is the best feeling in golf and to be able to do what I did today is definitely going to help me going forward in the future.
Q. And secondly, the shot on 14, I’m kind of curious about that back pin can get a little bit scary.
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah.
Q. Wondering if you can —
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, it’s a tricky shot. I had a pitching wedge number today, but I hit a 9-iron just to sort of get the spin down. But it’s also sort of a dangerous shot because if you tug it a little bit, it goes over and down in the hazard. It was one of them that I’ve gotten better at, sort of that flighted iron shot. A couple years ago I couldn’t do that. It was cool to sort of pull that off when I needed to and give myself a chance to make a birdie. It’s a sneaky hole and I’m proud of the way that I first hit the tee ball, but also the second shot.
Q. Ludvig, you said the other day that you still had one or two pounds to gain and talking about sort of trying to eat everything you could see. What will you have tonight? What will your celebratory meal be?
LUDVIG ABERG: Oh, good question. I feel like this is my last day on the west coast for quite some time, so I think In-N-Out would be appropriate. I’m not going to be back on the west coast for a while, so I think I’ll take advantage of that opportunity.
Q. On those lines, where did you end up taking your girlfriend for Valentine’s Day?
LUDVIG ABERG: We had takeout, we got takeout to eat at the house. It was a mutual decision to not sort of go through the rush and the hecticness of Valentine’s Day and I think that was a good decision on both parts.
Q. On a bigger picture, you didn’t have a victory last year. There’s such expectations 3 behind you. Not winning in one year isn’t that long of a time, but to you did it feel like it’s been a while since you’ve won?
LUDVIG ABERG: Oh, absolutely, it felt like a lifetime. Yeah, I think so. It is hard winning on the PGA TOUR, they’re the best players in the world.
Anytime you have the opportunity to win it’s a cool feeling to try to win a golf tournament coming down the last couple holes. Today I executed the shots, I made a couple putts and that was the difference. It just sort of — it’s very reassuring to know that I can sort of go from where I was a couple weeks ago to winning a tournament in sort of a quick turnaround.
Q. Ludvig, just curious, when you were sick a few weeks ago, is that the sickest you’ve ever been in your life? Is there a moment you remember when you were even more ill?
LUDVIG ABERG: It was definitely the first time in a long time I was sick. I don’t remember the last time I was sick. Yeah, obviously I wasn’t feeling very well. Yeah, it wasn’t fun for anyone.
Q. Is there a reason why you decided to push through it and not withdraw?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah. I mean, like I said before, with the Pebble tournament, I don’t like pulling out of tournaments, it’s not really the way that I want to do it. And Torrey I still felt like obviously — I started feeling poor before the third round so I wasn’t going to pull out of the third round. Possibly the fourth, but I still felt like I was going to fight through it and try playing at Pebble and it wasn’t very nice. Sort of to give myself the chance to recover and be ready for this tournament, I made a decision to pull out of Pebble on Friday.
Q. I might have missed something, Lud. When you were home last week, you still weren’t feeling very good? At what point did you feel OK?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, I was sort of in bed until Tuesday. So I went home on Friday from Pebble and then I was sort of in bed until Tuesday. It wasn’t until Wednesday that I started hitting balls. Couldn’t really train in the gym properly until maybe Thursday. It took me a while, but here we are now.
Q. At what point or was there any point at all out there today that you felt this might be slipping away from you?
LUDVIG ABERG: I felt like I got off to a hot start birdieing 2 and 3, and then kind of made some poor mistakes. Like I said, it felt like I made three bogeys in a row, 4, 5, 6, but again I felt like Torrey Pines is a hard golf course and there are bogeys sort of everywhere. I still felt 4 like I could execute the shots and be aggressive from the fairways. I felt like when I made the putt on 15 that I was really in the hunt. Then I sort of just wanted
to birdie one of the last.
Q. Was there any point you saw a leaderboard and you saw an 11 next to Mav’s name that you — that surprised you? The number, not the name.
LUDVIG ABERG: What’s that?
Q. The number, not so much the name.
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, I think once I saw that 11 was posted I just tried to get to 12 as fast as I could.
Q. Ludvig, I don’t think anybody’s particularly surprised to see you win. However, you are still pretty young and I was wondering, is there some part of you that thinks this is sort of surreal when you’re out there doing interviews and Tiger Woods suddenly shows up right behind you, a guy who I imagine you’ve watched on TV win eight times out here. Is there some part of you that just sort of can’t believe like how fast this has happened?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, a little bit, absolutely. I sort of — I spoke with Tiger a couple weeks ago at the TGL in West Palm Beach and that was the first time that we really spoke, had a conversation. To win his event, he means so much to our game and to our tour, it’s really cool, it means a lot. And he is the GOAT, so absolutely.
Q. Ludvig, from afar it looks like you and Joe are having fun out there, you seem pretty carefree. I know this is a job and it’s business, but are you able to have fun being out there, especially coming down the stretch? Are you able to I guess enjoy the moment?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s important, I think it’s important to have fun. Like you said, it is a business and it is — you know, we’re professionals, but you still need to have fun. I’m still trying to win a tournament. Coming down the last couple holes is the most fun you’ll ever have, I think, and that was the case today and I think I used that to my advantage. Yeah, winning is fun, but also being in that situation and in contention trying to win and sort of everything that goes through your mind and the adrenaline and the excitement and the nerves, everything that comes with it is really fun.
Q. You’re known as a very fast player, don’t take a lot of time behind the ball. As the pressure cranks up and you’re in contention, how do you, A, prevent yourself from 5 going too fast, but also not going too slow and breaking your normal rhythm?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, that’s a good question. I sort of have the tendency to get a little bit fast at times. I could definitely feel when I made a putt on 15 that I’m like, you need to slow down a little bit, dude. I tried to breathe as much as I could coming down the last probably three, four holes just so like you said, you don’t want to rush things. Although I am fast, I just want to walk faster, talk faster, do all these things faster. I feel like I’ve gotten better at it lately, but it’s still a skill and it’s really difficult. I like to keep it fast, but sometimes it gets a little too fast.
Q. How old — you would have been really young in 2008 when Tiger won the U.S. Open here. Do you remember watching that at all?
LUDVIG ABERG: I must have been 8, so no, not really. I remember sort of watching the tournament. I don’t vividly remember it, though. I do remember videos from it. Obviously the putt that he made on 13 on Saturday and the putt on 18 when he won. But yeah, it’s quite surreal. We talked about it sort of on the last green and I asked him if this was his favorite Tour stop. It’s just surreal sort of talking to him about those things, yeah.
Q. Did you realize your putt on 18 was very similar to what he had in 2008?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, I guess his was a little bit longer —
Q. Yeah.
LUDVIG ABERG: — but it was a similar line. Yeah, that’s pretty cool.
Q. When you think about what you want to achieve for the year, even if you’re playing well and winning is hard out here, what does actually having a win do to go forward for the rest of the year?
LUDVIG ABERG: Yeah, it’s really nice getting off to a good start. Obviously the season is long, but all we try to do is play as good as we can and prepare as good as we can for every tournament. Yeah, like you said, it sort of takes away a lot of the early pressures, if you will. You don’t
have to chase things. Getting a win means a lot to me and that’s — I was pretty bummed I didn’t get to win a tournament last year, but it’s really nice to be able to do it again. It’s almost addicting to walk down those last couple holes and just want to do it again.
MODERATOR: Ludvig, appreciate the time. Thanks and once again congratulations on being the 20245 Genesis Invitational champion.