Ludvig Åberg admits nerves impacted his game as he blew a three-shot lead to surrender his grip on The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.
The overnight leader had been typically composed across a front nine that underscored his title credentials, only for a bogey at 11 and a double-bogey at 12 to derail his final round.
In doing so he paved the way for the pairing of Cam Young and Matt Fitzpatrick to take control of the tournament, the former eventually emerging victorious by one stroke at 13 under to collect his second PGA Tour title while Åberg closed out on nine under in a tie for fifth.
“Obviously really disappointed,” said Åberg. “I felt like I was striking it okay early on. Got away with a few things, especially [on] No 4, kind of left miss. But overall pleased with the week. Obviously today the back nine was not good, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
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Ludvig Åberg went into the water on back-to-back holes at The Players to throw away his lead
His defining period came at 11 when he dragged a wild second shot into the water before taking a drop on his way to a bogey, pulling him back to 12 under par.
A momentum shift was confirmed moments later when he sent his tee shot at 12 into the water once more, before showing edgy signs with his putter on the green as the pressure mounted in contrast to his otherwise unflappable character for much of the week.
“It got away from me quick there,” he said. “Yeah, it was just poor swings. I felt like I’ve had that sort of seven-wood right miss a few times this week, on No 4 especially twice, and it came up on 11 as well.
“Then tried to press a little bit on 12, hitting driver, where sometimes you can play 3-wood a little short of that bunker. Yeah, obviously really disappointed. I would have loved to be standing where Cameron is standing right now. But overall I still felt like I saw some nice things in my game this week.
“We had sort of a game plan as driver would be an option, and today obviously the wind was a little bit different from what we’ve had, and it was a good wind for it. But yeah, it was a poor swing, a really poor swing, and it definitely stings a little bit.”
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Ludvig Åberg was upset after he threw away The Players lead on the back-nine of TPC Sawgrass.
A theme to both Åberg’s week and rise to stardom has been his calm demeanour, though the Swede admitted adversity along his back nine provoked some rushed shots.
“Yeah, I think so. I think so. I definitely felt a little bit fast at times,” he said. “I would imagine if I look at those swings on sort of 11, 12, they probably were quick swings.
“Takeaway got really fast and then the rest of it kind of spirals from there. That’s something that I should have been aware of, now looking back. But yeah, that’s the way it goes.”
Fitzpatrick: I have high expectations of myself
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Matt Fitzpatrick expresses his disappointment after missing out on The Players win.
With Åberg’s demise came opportunity for Fitzpatrick, who at one stage put himself in the driving seat on 13 under only for two bogeys in his final five holes to prove pivotal to Young’s victory.
The Yorkshireman had started the day five shots back before exploding out of the blocks with three birdies in his first four holes, and another two at 12 and 13 to take advantage of Åberg’s plummet.
“I think the big thing is I believe in my own ability,” Fitzpatrick said of his game afterwards. “I feel like I’ve been doing a ton of good work with Mark Blackburn and just really, really seen so many positive signs over the last 12 months, really.
“I feel like I don’t – I was saying last night to my psychologist – I feel like I’m very good at getting myself into position between 15 and five. I don’t feel like – I don’t feel like I get in enough positions between five and first.
“I feel like if I can do that, obviously it’s easier said than done, then I believe I will win more. It’s obviously easier said than done, but I back myself down the stretch, and I feel like if I can do that, then it’ll be good things.”
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Highlights of Matt Fitzpatrick’s final round of The Players, where he narrowly missed out on victory after a closing bogey
Fitzpatrick was left to rue a poor finish to his third round which saw him card a double bogey at 18 following back-to-back birdies.
“I felt like I was playing well,” he said. “The disappointment of last night was I felt like it was going to bite me. Obviously today it has.
“That was my only double of the week and you keep those off your card here and you’ll have a good week. That was the frustration, feeling as though you’re out of position and you get your bogey – worst case – and move o. To finish as sloppy as I did was frustrating.”
Fitzpatrick and Young were level at 13 under heading over to 18, where the Englishman left himself with work to do by finding the trees off the final tee.
He went on to miss his putt from eight feet to hand the win to Young, who closed things out with a close-range par putt.
“I have high expectations of myself, I believe in my ability coming down the stretch and don’t necessarily feel I get myself in these positions enough,” said Fitzpatrick. “In the last 12 months I’ve done a better job of it, but I feel like when I do get in these positions I give myself a good chance to go on and win.
“Today was another of those days where realistically I’m a gnat’s do-dah from getting into a play-off and winning. It’s a tough one to take how it ended, but the old cliche – lots of positives.”
What’s next?
The PGA Tour stays in Florida for the Valspar Championship, held at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor. Early coverage begins on Thursday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 6pm.
There’s less than four weeks to go until the opening men’s major of the year, with McIlroy’s title defence at The Masters exclusively live from April 9-12 on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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