The 2024 U.S. Open kicked off Thursday morning at the famed Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. The illustrious course is known for making players look overmatched, yet 24-year-old Ludvig Aberg is once again showing he plays beyond his age.

Aberg finished his first round carding a 4-under 66. That left him one shot back of Patrick Cantlay for the early lead and is one of only a handful of golfers to finish more than one shot under par Thursday.

Following his round, Aberg addressed the course difficulty, showing reverence despite his success.

“It's really hard. Especially when you have a wedge in your hand or something like that where normally you would go at the pin, but you can't really do that here,” said Aberg. “It's the U.S. Open, it's supposed to be hard. That's what we're doing here.”

Aberg amazingly hit every fairway in regulation and nearly every green. A youngster making his U.S. Open debut is not supposed to be able to do this.

“I'm very, very pleased obviously… super happy with the way we hit it. Super happy with
the execution today. I felt it was really nice and very encouraging. All we can try to do is keep it up and make sure that we're ready to go tomorrow.”

The Swede actually played in the Ryder Cup before ever stepping foot on a major championship venue. Yet, here we are again as the golfing phenom will likely be in contention for a major title.

Granted, there are still 54 holes to play. All it takes is a bad stretch of holes to take you out of this tournament. Ask six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, who finished his round 9-over and will likely be headed home Friday.

But if history suggests anything, we are watching the ascension of a truly great player.

Aberg turned professional a little less than a year ago. Since then, he won the Omega European Masters on the DP World Tour, helped Europe win the Ryder Cup and won The RSM Classic last fall on the PGA Tour.

Turn the calendar to 2024 and Ludvig Aberg finished runner up to World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler at the Masters.

Following that standout performance, Aberg was forced to withdraw from the Wells Fargo Championship citing a knee injury. He was forced to wear a brace during the PGA Championship last month.

But any injury concern was put to bed after being asked how the knee is holding up.

“No, I have absolutely no issues whatsoever.”

A healthy Ludvig Aberg is very clearly dangerous any given week.