The mind-blowing stats behind Ludvig Aberg’s rookie PGA Tour season

Where do you even start with Ludvig Aberg? The 24-year-old is now a winner on the both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour – but that barely scratches the surface of the story when it comes to his remarkable start to life as a professional.

In the space of just six months, the Swede has gone from a college hotshot at Texas Tech to being Europe’s most exciting talent. And not only has he won on both sides of the Atlantic, but he played a pivotal role in Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup-winning team, earning three points at Marco Simone – including when he teamed up with Viktor Hovland to dispatch Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in a record-breaking 9&7 defeat.

The final round of his RSM Classic victory, a second consecutive score of 61 to finish at 29-under-par, was Aberg’s 50th on the PGA Tour, which means he now played enough to be included in the PGA Tour’s in-depth statistics.

And it makes incredible reading for the Swede, and it’s clear to see why fans and his peers alike rank Aberg so highly.

And why wouldn’t you? As posted by my colleague Michael McEwan on X, in his 50 rounds on the PGA Tour so far, Aberg has:

• Carded more rounds in the 60s (30) than in the 70s (20)
• Carded a best score of 61 (twice)
• Carded a worst score of 73 (!)
• A combined total score of 140-under-par
• A stroke average of 68.32

I know what you’re thinking about that last stat, and we have the answer courtesy of VC606 on X: Tiger Woods’ stroke average in his first 50 PGA Tour rounds was 68.81. We’re not making any comparisons, though! (Yet.)

Aberg’s form has also seen him move from 3,064th in the world rankings at the start of the year to his current position of 32nd – which will see him into the Masters and The Open in 2024.

But what about his official PGA Tour stats? Let’s take a dive into some of the most stand-out parts of Aberg’s game to date…

Ludvig Aberg PGA Tour stats

Strokes Gained: Total: 10th (+1.507)

This stat measures how many strokes better or worse a player is compared to the field average from that day. In Aberg’s case, he’s more than one-and-a-half shots better than his opponents, on average, each round.

To put that into context, here are the only players who are above him in that metric: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa.

To only be trailing legitimate superstars in the game in such an important measure, after only a few months as a pro, is incredibly impressive. It shows that he’s got a well-rounded game without any real weakness.

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Total Driving: 1st (33)

This stat is calculated by adding a player’s distance ranking with their accuracy ranking when it comes to driving – so the lower the better.

In Aberg’s case, he is sixth in distance and 27th in accuracy, making a total of 33.

To put that number into context, the player in second in this stat is Keith Mitchell, a notoriously good driver of the ball, whose total is 62.

That’s some gap between the top two.

Driving Distance: 6th (317 yards)

Over each round on the PGA Tour, two drives are measured from each player. This stat takes the average number of yards hit from those two drives.

Again, Aberg is close to the very top, only nine yards behind the leader in this statistic, Rory McIlroy.

In a game that is now dominated by big hitters, Aberg can absolutely keep up with the longest.

At six-foot-three, he’s got the physical attributes to hit the ball miles, and that’s exactly what he does.

Greens in Regulation: 3rd (73.3%)

This stat might seem less important in the days of Strokes Gained, but it’s still a telling indicator.

The leader in this category is Scottie Scheffler, who has hit just over 74% of greens this year. Aberg is just 1% behind the world No 1.

To put this number into context, the Swede has 900 holes measured on the PGA Tour and, from those, he’s hit 660 greens.

Having birdie or eagle putts on nearly three out of every four holes you play is only going to lead to great scoring.

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Proximity to Hole: 2nd (33’4”)

You might be wondering if Aberg can turn Greens in Regulation into realistic birdie chances, and this stat shows that he absolutely can.

Compared to his peers, he is hitting the ball incredibly close to the hole. The Ryder Cup star averages inside 35 feet from the hole after each approach shot, which is the second best on the PGA Tour in 2023.

Not only is Aberg hitting loads of greens, but he’s getting himself pretty close, too. That means less three-putts, and more good looks at birdie.

Putting Average: 7th (1.712)

This is a useful stat, as it measures how many putts on average a player takes on each green they hit in regulation.

For a player like Aberg, who we know hits a lot of greens, ranking so highly in this stat means he’s going to make a lot of birdies.

In his very short PGA Tour career, he’s so far converted more than 35% of his birdie attempts on the greens, averaging 1.7 putts per green.

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Putting from 3-feet: 1st (100%)

The numbers speak for themselves on this, but Aberg has made all 458 putts from inside three feet on the PGA Tour this year.

Of course, you might expect him to make all these, but only five other pros have this flawless record to their name. He certainly doesn’t show any signs of weakness from close range.

The Eye Test

Stats, although important, can only tell half a story about a player.

However, Ludvig Aberg passes the most important test. He looks the part. Anyone who watched him at the Ryder Cup can tell he’s got the right mentality, and his golf swing doesn’t appear to have any potential hitches.

We might not have seen much of him, but from what we have seen, there’s plenty to get excited about.

Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor