Ludvig Åberg took over the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as he went nuclear on Friday. He carded a bogey-free 7-under 65 to sit at 11-under entering the weekend.
The Swedish golfer shares the lead with Thomas Detry and Scottie Scheffler.
Åberg recorded five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 2nd on the day.
“It was nice. Got off to a nice start with a couple of long putts that I don’t remember the last time I did that, so obviously, that’s a little bonus,” Aberg said after his round Friday. “I felt like I kept playing quite well and kept being disciplined, so it was nice.”
He is No. 2 in strokes gained putting so far this week. During Friday’s round, the former Texas Tech Red Raider made 106 feet of putts in his first four holes and a little over 158 feet over the entire round.
On the first hole, he sank a 42-footer for birdie, and his eagle putt was for 35 feet. On the third hole, he saved par from 11 feet, and on the fourth, he sunk a 28-footer for birdie.
Given the undulation and tricky green complexes, that’s no easy feat.
“I felt like over these last couple of weeks, it’s been quite streaky,” Åberg said of his putting. “It’s been a lot of good and a lot of bad… Sometimes you make a few, sometimes you miss a few. I don’t try to get too high or too low. Golf is a very humbling sport, so just try to take it for what it is and try to keep it going tomorrow.”
This year marks his debut at this event after he turned pro midseason in 2023. Åberg has very little experience at Pebble Beach as a professional, but he didn’t need it, as he played the links track like a veteran.
“I mean, it is tricky. I’ve had some experiences here before; we used to play a college event here, so I played here twice,” he said. “Pebble is one of the historic venues in the world, and it’s such a pleasure to play here — playing well doesn’t hurt, either.”
Åberg will look to build off his 36-hole co-lead on Saturday and will play alongside Detry and Scheffler in the final group.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
