{"id":540972,"date":"2026-03-16T22:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/540972\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T22:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:01:15","slug":"ludvig-aberg-reminds-us-again-how-tough-it-is-to-win-falls-out-of-lead-to-finish-t5-at-the-players-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/540972\/","title":{"rendered":"Ludvig \u00c5berg reminds us again how tough it is to win, falls out of lead to finish T5 at THE PLAYERS Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

22H AGO<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>\"Ludvig<\/p>\n

Ludvig \u00c5berg’s interview after Round 4 of THE PLAYERS<\/p>\n

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Written by Paul Hodowanic<\/p>\n

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 The miss was left from the start. Ludvig \u00c5berg gets quick when he\u2019s nervous. Quick in his movements, his decisions and his swing.<\/p>\n

On the first hole, after roasting a drive down the middle, he pulled his approach. It held the green, but it wasn\u2019t where \u00c5berg was aimed. It happened again on the second hole with his tee shot \u2013 too quick through the ball again \u2013 with his approach shot on the third and with his drive on the fourth. That errant drive led to his first bogey of the day\u2013 the first chink in his armor. It wouldn\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n

The one that sunk \u00c5berg came on the 12th. Moments after finding the water on the 11th and losing the outright lead, \u00c5berg lost it for good. Clearly frazzled, \u00c5berg hit a towering drive that was left from the start, sailing well past dry land and into the middle of the pond that guards the left side of the drivable par-4 12th.<\/p>\n

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Ludvig \u00c5berg falls from lead after finding water on back-to-back holes<\/p>\n

They say things come in threes. In this case, it\u2019s a trio of heartbreak that has provided us a painful reminder of how hard it is to win. Two weeks ago, Shane Lowry collapsed at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches and lost a late lead. Last week, Daniel Berger coughed up the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. And on Sunday, \u00c5berg collapsed, relinquishing a three-stroke lead with nine holes to play to lose THE PLAYERS Championship \u2013 the most gut-wrenching of them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt got away from me quick there,\u201d \u00c5berg said. \u201cYeah, it was just poor swings.\u201d<\/p>\n

This didn\u2019t happen to unproven pros. It happened to three PGA TOUR winners, three Ryder Cuppers. They are all top-10 players when they are at their best. Yet all of them can also be susceptible to their worst when the pressure ratchets up. Lowry clinched the Ryder Cup for the Europeans six months ago, then shanked a ball into the water to lose a TOUR event at PGA National. Berger\u2019s bulldog mentality is his most memorable trait, but Akshay Bhatia backed him down the stretch at Bay Hill. \u00c5berg is the cool, calm and collected king of the next generation of stars. Yet he had no answer for the obvious nerves that seep into everyone \u2013 no matter their stature \u2013 in the late going of tournament golf.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s so laid-back, like, ridiculously laid-back,\u201d Rory McIlroy said of \u00c5berg on Sunday morning, back when this looked like a sure victory for his Ryder Cup teammate.<\/p>\n

TPC Sawgrass is particularly relentless. Every shot requires a plan, full commitment to it, and proper execution. Get one component wrong and there are immediate consequences. Double bogeys lurk at every corner. The closing stretch is built to pull on any little bit of nerves until it turns you into a shell of who you were just a few holes before.<\/p>\n

\u00c5berg was supposed to be the one who could withstand it all. It\u2019s become a joke that he\u2019s part robot. His swing looks like it\u2019s built in a lab, as efficient as it is beautiful. His demeanor is what every athlete craves. He possesses a level-headed freedom that is uncanny for a 26-year-old. He laughed after he dumped his approach into the water on the 11th hole at Augusta National two years ago to sink his Masters hopes. The moment confounded so many that caddie Joe Skovron still gets asked why his player was chuckling after such heartbreak. McIlroy gawked at his mentality. It\u2019s easy for him to be level-headed as a 36-year-old Grand Slam winner. Yet he still can\u2019t seem to match \u00c5berg\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the cruel and universal thing about it. Nobody is immune.<\/p>\n

\u00c5berg\u2019s day was going seamlessly before the 11th hole. Yes, he had missed a few left on the front nine, but he weathered the storm.<\/p>\n

\"Ludvig<\/p>\n

Ludvig \u00c5berg converts up-and-down for birdie on No. 2 at THE PLAYERS<\/p>\n

He hit two clinical shots into the fifth hole and made a comfortable par. He made it through the stretch of Nos. 6-8 unscathed. He managed only a par at the ninth, but got up-and-down from the rough on the 10th, a good save. Then he roped a drive right down the middle at the 11th. A day earlier, it was the site of \u00c5berg\u2019s most consequential shot. From 238 yards out, \u00c5berg stuck a 5-iron to 17 feet, then holed the eagle putt. If he had won, it would have been the signature moment of the best win of his career. Now it will be forgotten; his approach on the same hole a day later will be the one shown in the highlight reel.<\/p>\n

\"Ludvig<\/p>\n

Ludvig \u00c5berg reaches the 564-yard, par-5 11th hole in two, makes eagle at THE PLAYERS<\/p>\n

From 267 yards, \u00c5berg wiped his approach into the water. He dropped short of the water and hit a wedge onto the green, but two-putted for bogey. Then came the disaster at 12, a double bogey that took \u00c5berg out of the lead for the first time since the ninth hole in the second round. He dropped another at the 15th and missed a birdie putt on the 16th, eliminating any last hope for a comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely felt a little bit fast at times,\u201d \u00c5berg said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

His redemption story will come down the line. \u00c5berg is too good for it not to. So are Lowry and Berger. On Sunday, though, \u00c5berg choked.<\/p>\n

At least he has some company.<\/p>\n

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Mar 12, 2026<\/p>\n

Morikawa withdraws from THE PLAYERS with back injury<\/a>Latest<\/a>\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"22H AGO 5 Min Read Latest *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Ludvig \u00c5berg’s interview after Round 4 of THE PLAYERS *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]> A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-540972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}