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One of the PGA Tour's Signature Events culminated Sunday with Ludvig Aberg claiming victory at the Genesis Invitational. In a highly dramatic finish, Aberg played flawlessly down the stretch and birdied 18 to win by a single stroke over Maverick McNealy. It was the Swedish phenom's second career PGA Tour win, having captured the RSM Classic in 2023.
But this win carried with it far more importance. Aberg vaulted all the way to World No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He trails only Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy, respectively. He also took home the largest payday of his career, earning $4 million of the $20 million purse.
But maybe more impressive is what he accomplished with the win.
Aberg became just the sixth golfer to hit a hole-in-one in the last 10 years and go on to win the tournament, according to golf statistician Justin Ray. That makes up 1.4 percent of the time that has happened, with 456 official events being played during that time. Aberg's hole-in-one came on the par-3 3rd at Torrey Pines' South Course during the third round on Saturday.
Coincidentally, one of the other five happened just a couple of weeks ago. Rory McIlroy also made an ace on his way to winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
But, unlike McIlroy, Aberg also had to overcome an unbelievable deficit to claim victory. With 10 holes to play on Sunday, Aberg trailed McNealy by three shots. He was being given +4000 odds by Golfbet to win the tournament at the time. McNealy came out firing during his final round, birdieing eight of his first 11 holes to take a commanding lead.
McNealy dropped a shot with a bogey on the par-4 14th and parred out from there to reach the clubhouse at 11-under. Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Swede birdied 13, 14, and 15 before draining the winning birdie putt on 18.
The talented Aberg has already accomplished so much in his young career. He earned a spot on the European Ryder Cup team that throttled Team USA in Rome. He was the one golfer that gave Scheffler a run for his money at the 2024 Masters Tournament. Now, he has another win under his belt.
The sky is the limit, and it appears he is just getting started to make his mark in professional golf.
