By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Ludvig Aberg claimed after last year’s Masters that he learned from his runner-up finish in his major debut, and on Thursday the Swede put that knowledge to good use as he sat in a share of second place after the opening round at August National.
With a year to ponder what could have been, Aberg produced a disciplined four-under-par 68 that featured four back-nine birdies and left him three shots back of leader Justin Rose.
“I’ve just looked forward to it a lot,” Aberg said when asked how he prepared for his Augusta return. “It’s a test of golf that I really enjoy.
“It demands a lot of patience. You can’t really force it. I felt like I like that type of golf. I enjoy that challenge. It’s almost like you’re walking on cloud nine every time you play Augusta, and today that was the case, as well.”
The 25-year-old Aberg has now gone 11-under through his first five rounds at Augusta National, a mark bettered only by Jordan Spieth, who went 13-under through his first five career rounds at the famed layout.
For Aberg, the only blemish on his card in the opening round came at the par-three fourth hole where he two-putted from six feet after chipping out of the front right bunker that guards the green.
That cancelled out a birdie on the previous hole but Aberg did not panic and instead waited for his moments to strike, and he picked up strokes on four of his final seven holes to vault up the leaderboard.
“This place, experience goes a long way, and I felt like we played a very disciplined round of golf today,” said Aberg, who picked up his second career win on the PGA Tour in February at Torrey Pines.
“When you execute the shots, it makes it a whole lot easier, obviously, but I felt like we managed sort of the shots where we were in between clubs in the right way and didn’t try to force anything, laid up on a couple of par-fives where I could have probably gone for it if I was aggressive.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, GeorgiaEditing by Shri Navaratnam)
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