Texas holds special place in Swede star Ludvig Aberg's heart

While Lubbock, Texas, is a long way -- approximately 5,179 miles -- from his hometown of Eslow, Sweden, rising Swedish star Ludvig Aberg fondly recalled his college days at Texas Tech ahead of this week's Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.

"For me coming over here, it was a great experience to get my education as well," the 25-year-old said. "I was playing in one of the top programs in the country. It was my home for four years, stayed here for a little bit after even when I got done with school. It was definitely a great experience and I can't talk nicely enough about Lubbock and Texas Tech."

Fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking, Aberg aims to claim a second 2025 PGA title this weekend, having won the Genesis Invitational in February. He opened the season with a tie for fifth at The Sentry, but his next-best finish was a tie for 22nd at last month's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

As for Lubbock, Aberg said he was there last weekend watching basketball with friends and enjoys returning to his alma mater whenever time allows.

"I thought it was great to see a different side of the world that I hadn't seen before," he said. "Obviously growing up in Sweden, that's one kind of culture, then I came over here and I saw this, which was really cool. I loved traveling, I loved seeing that part. Yeah, I'll be back in Lubbock whenever I can next time."

Preparing for his first PGA Tour event since missing the cut at The Players Championship last month, Aberg -- who tied for 14th in San Antonio last year -- is aiming to bounce back on familiar turf.

"Looking forward to it," he said. "It's a lot of fun playing tournaments in Texas where I went to school. It will be a good test, the golf course as always can be pretty challenging. Looks like we're going to have some nice weather, so it will be fun."

Aberg, who missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open as an amateur in 2022, is quite familiar with the course from his time at Texas Tech and hopes to avoid any potential pitfalls.

"I think obviously you need to keep the ball in front of you off the tee," he said. "Once you start to miss a little bit, it can be a little penalizing. You get some of these greens when they get baked and fast and some wind coming down in the afternoon can make it a little challenging.

"It's a cool place. I've played a lot of golf here, we played some college events here a couple years ago, too, so I really like it."

Despite his experience on the course, Aberg knows that won't matter once the participants tee off for real.

"Come Thursday, it doesn't really change anything," he said. "We all try to hit to the targets, and if you don't, you're going to be punished. That doesn't really come with experience, but it will be cool to tee it up again here."

--Field Level Media