ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Another week, another strong start for Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg.
The rookie sensation and European Ryder Cupper didn’t turn pro until after the NCAA Championship in May but won in September on the DP World Tour and has been threatening to do the same on the PGA Tour. He’s down to his last chance before the calendar flips as he grabbed the 36-hole lead at the RSM Classic on Friday with a bogey-free 6-under 64 at the Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course.
“I consider myself very, very fortunate to be in this position and I view it as a privilege to be able to feel that kind of pressure and tension and nervousness,” he said. “It’s not something that I want to back down from. I want to keep doing what I’m doing and hit good golf shots and make putts.”
Ludvig Aberg plans a shot from the 16th tee during the second round of the 2023 RSM Classic on the Seaside Course at Sea Island Resort in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Aberg drained a 20-foot birdie putt at the last to take a one-stroke lead over Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy and Sam Ryder at 11-under 131. It marked Aberg’s first 36-hole lead or co-lead and lowest opening 36-hole score in what is his 11th start on Tour as a professional. How comfortable does he feel being in front?
“I think I’ve been in the lead a few times, and every time you do it, it gets easier,” he said.
Here are four more things to know about the second round of the RSM Classic.
Sam Ryder entered the week as the bubble boy for the “Next 10.” Nos. 51 to 60 on the FedEx Cup Fall standings at the end of the RSM Classic earn an exemption to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational, which next season are signature events with $20 million purses and no cut.
“That’s really what’s propelled me through the fall. That’s been my goal since I finished, because I made the Playoffs, made it to Memphis, and fell a little short and didn’t make it to the next, the BMW,” he said.
Sam Ryder fields questions following his 65 on Friday in the second round of the 2023 RSM Classic at the Sea Island Club on St. Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Garry Smits/The Times-Union)
A hot putter propelled him to a 7-under 65 on Friday at the Plantation Course that lifted him to 10-under 132 and T-2 through 36 holes. Ryder played his final five holes in 5 under, including holing a 50-foot eagle bomb at the par-5 18th to cap off his…
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