Smylie Kaufman has shared what he found really surprising about the performance of Ludvig Aberg in the final round of the Scottish Open as the Swede fell out of contention.
It appeared that Ludvig Aberg had a fantastic chance to secure a big win ahead of his Open Championship debut next week, with the 24-year-old two shots clear of Robert MacIntyre at The Renaissance Club.
However, Aberg went on to shoot the only over par round of those who finished in the top 21 in North Berwick, with MacIntyre going on to win by one.
It was a surprise to see Aberg struggle in the manner he did, with three bogeys on the back nine ending his hopes of his first win of the season.
Ludvig Aberg springs surprise with Scottish Open Sunday display
Of course, there is absolutely no question that Aberg has been absolutely outstanding since turning professional just over a year ago – forcing his way into the Ryder Cup team in Rome. And he won a lot of admirers with the way he finished second at The Masters on his major championship debut.
But Aberg fell away on Sunday at the US Open, and he will be a little concerned by how he performed at the Scottish Open. Certainly, speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman could not quite believe that Aberg was not able to get across the line.
“I think you have to be a little judgy on this round, that’s not a good performance for a player who’s had a really strong three days, and it felt like it was going to be his tournament to lose. I think I woke up today, I guess these guys were about to tee off and it just felt like there was no way Ludvig was going to lose today,” he said.
“I just felt like he was the front-runner the whole time, played fantastic the whole week. What was going to stop him? Just didn’t expect a day in which he just didn’t have it. I think that was really surprising that he was not able to give it much more of a fight than he did. I don’t think you can say that he doesn’t know how to win or he doesn’t have the clutch gene, well, that’s not true. He’s won at every level, he’s won on the PGA Tour, but this one’s going to sting a little bit. I think he’s going to be a little frustrated by his play today, and sometimes you don’t have it.”
Swede has game to bounce back at earliest opportunity
When elite players do miss a golden chance to win, it seems to be quite common for them to respond by winning at the next opportunity – and thus, it would not be a shock to see Aberg respond with a big performance at Royal Troon next week.
He clearly has the game to compete with the very best, having been nearly flawless for three days at the Scottish Open. And he may not be thinking too deeply about what happened on Sunday as every player probably has a similar story in their locker.
Ultimately, he is putting himself in position to win on a consistent basis – and that bodes well ahead of the final major of the year.
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