Winning the Genesis Invitational meant a lot to Ludvig Aberg, as it was the highest-ranked event of his professional career and also his biggest paycheck. But the win at Torrey Pines also allowed Aberg to join one of the most super-exclusive clubs of the PGA Tour.
Aberg’s result at the Genesis Invitational was only the sixth time in the past 10 years that a player on the PGA Tour has won after making an ace in the same tournament.
According to golf statistician Justin Ray, that represents a 1.4 percent occurrence rate, as there have been 435 tournaments played on the American-based circuit during that time.
Just as impressive is the fact that two of those six occasions have come in the last two weeks, as Rory McIlroy won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after carding an ace in the first round.
Ludvig Aberg’s ace came on the 140-yard, par-3 3rd hole on Torrey Pines’ South Course during the third round of the Genesis Invitational. A day later, Keegan Bradley repeated the feat on the same hole, which had not seen an ace since the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open (Richie Werenski, first round).
Speaking of hard-to-overcome statistics, Aberg’s start to the final round led to sportsbooks giving him far from the best odds to win the event. According to Golfbet, the Swede was given odds of +4000 with 10 holes to play after playing the first eight holes with three birdies and two bogeys.
Data Golf, for its part, was giving Aberg just a 2.6 percent chance of winning when he played the 10th hole, and was even lower on the 11th (1.5 percent). However, the Swedish phenom managed to improve in the latter part of the final round, until he was given a 100% chance of winning on the 18th, according to the data presented by Golf Digest’s Jamie Kennedy:
- 10th: 2.6%
- 11th: 1.5%
- 12th: 3.5%
- 13th: 9.6%
- 14th: 26.6%
- 15th: 60.7%
- 16th: 78.9%
- 17th: 74.8%
- 18th: 100%
Aberg destroyed the negative odds on the back nine by carding four birdies without a bogey, including the one on 18 that gave him the win.
The Genesis Invitational title also had an impact on Aberg’s position in the world rankings. In the latest update, the 25-year-old climbed to World No. 4, only behind Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy, in that order. It is the best position he has achieved in his young career.
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