Ludvig Aberg: ‘Red flags’ made me reject LIV (twice!)

Ludvig Aberg has revealed he rejected overtures from LIV Golf – not once but twice.

The young Swedish superstar is the most exciting prospect in golf right now after winning on both the PGA and DP World Tours and starring in the victorious European Ryder Cup team in his first season as pro.

Aberg, 24 is yet to compete in a major, but has been unsurprisingly identified as a key target by LIV bosses.

• Viktor Hovland: PGA Tour to blame for LIV Golf exodus

• ‘It’s mad!’ Shane Lowry reacts to Jon Rahm’s LIV move 

When Aberg was still an amateur at Texas Tech college this spring, he turned down a $2.5million two-year contract to join the Greg Norman-fronted series, before he had made his breakthrough on the PGA Tour.

And he has revealed he was recently approached again after securing his first pro win Stateside at the RSM Classic, where he posted back-to-back 61s over the weekend to lift the title.

But like his Ryder Cup teammate Viktor Hovland, Aberg has made it clear that he’s not going anywhere.

“There were a number of red flags, which is not good,” Aberg told STV Sport, via translation.

“We realised that I could potentially burn a lot of bridges, and I wasn’t interested in that. When I look back, I am very confident in my decision. I will never chase money; what I do is compete. I did the right thing.”

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Aberg continued: “I want to play against the best, because I am a competitive person and like to compete against the best players,” Aberg said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that at the moment, it’s a bit more fragmented.

“When I look at the PGA Tour and the competitions there, there is so much history around all the competitions. And that’s what I like, that’s what I go for. But then you have to respect everyone’s decisions.”

Jon Rahm controversially shared similar sentiments about chasing ‘history and legacy’ on the PGA Tour before signing his seismic LIV deal.

Hovland, meanwhile, claimed last week that “it would be a bit silly to criticise the players for leaving.”

“I totally understand why [Rahm] left,” the Norwegian said. “That’s a lot, a lot of money.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.