Ludvig Aberg Archives - US Sports News

Patrick Cantlay Shoots 65, Leads Early in Opening Round at U.S. Open

PINEHURST, N.C. — Patrick Cantlay is on the short list of the best golfers without a major title. He’s off to a good start to remove his name from that list.

The eight-time PGA Tour winner and ninth-ranked player in the world shot 5-under 65 Thursday morning at Pinehurst No. 2 in the opening round of the 124th U.S. Open, leading by one over Ludvig Åberg with the afternoon wave still set to tee off.

Cantlay, a 32-year-old California native who played collegiately at UCLA, is making his 30th major start. He has never missed a cut in the U.S. Open, with high finishes of T14 the last two years.

Xander Schauffele, his closest friend on Tour, won his first major last month at the PGA Championship. Cantlay finished T53 that week at Valhalla Golf Club.

On Thursday Cantlay made six birdies against just one bogey at perilous Pinehurst No. 2, where domed green complexes repel shots in all directions and act as the course’s primary defense against the game’s best players. Cantlay had just 23 putts.

THISCLOSE to the lowest round in U.S. Open history at Pinehurst. 😮
Still, a sizzling 65 for @patrick_cantlay. pic.twitter.com/hptat2zbVu
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2024

Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, for example, shot 33 on the front nine and got to 3 under through 10 holes but gave all that back with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch and shot even-par 70.

Åberg, a 24-year-old Swede ranked sixth in the world, shot 4-under 66 in his first U.S. Open round. Pavon, a native of France who was a surprise winner earlier this year at Torrey Pines, got to 5 under through 10 holes with eagles on both of Pinehurst's par 5s but made two bogeys the rest of the way to shoot 67.

Tony Finau, who has won six times on Tour and is also in the best-without-a-major conversation, shot 68.

Sam Bennett, Corey Conners, Sergio Garcia, S.H. Kim and Aaron Rai all posted 1-under 69s from the morning wave. Garcia, a player on LIV Golf, is making his 25th consecutive U.S. Open start after making the field as alternate from last week’s 36-hole final qualifying. His 69 featured 17 pars and one birdie—good for the sixth bogey-free round in four U.S. Opens played at Pinehurst No. 2.

Tiger Woods shot 4-over 74, playing for the first time since missing the cut at last month’s PGA Championship. Phil Mickelson, who like Woods played at Pinehurst’s first U.S. Open in 1999, shot 9-over 79 with nine bogeys and no birdies.

This U.S. Open has the highest purse ever for a major championship, at $21.5 million with $4.3 million to the winner.

8 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Memorial Tournament Live Odds Ahead of Round 3 (Can Anyone Catch Scottie Scheffler?)

We are halfway through the 2024 edition of the Memorial Tournament and low and behold, the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, has a commanding lead heading into Saturday's Round 3.

He has a three-stroke lead at nine-under par after the second round. Viktor Hovland and Adam Hadwin are tied in second place at six-under par. Keegan Bradley and Christiaan Beuidenhout round out the top five, each at five under par.

If you haven't placed a bet on the event yet or if you want some more action heading into the weekend, you've come to the right place. Let's take a look at the live odds via DraftKings Sportsbook and then I'll break down two golfers you should consider betting on before the leaders tee off on Saturday.

Scottie Scheffler enters the weekend as the -190 favorite, which means he has an implied probability of 65.52% of capturing his fifth win of the 2024 calendar year.

Ludvig Aberg +2000

Ludvig Aberg is a driving and ball-striking machine, but that's been his weakness through the first two rounds. It's his short game that has helped him sit at four-under-par, good for solo sixth place ahead of Saturday's round. He has gained over a stroke per round both around the greens and on the greens so far in this event.

There are questions surrounding the health of his knee, which could be the cause of his ball-striking not being as sharp as we normally see it. If his knee holds up and he starts striking the ball on Saturday and Sunday as well as he can, he's one of the few people in the top 10 who have the firepower to catch Scheffler.

He's five strokes off the lead ahead of Round 3.

Adam Hadwin +2500

Adam Hadwin is T2 ahead of Round 3 but is still available at 25-1. The Canadian is an interesting golfer to handicap because he doesn't have any kind of consistent form, but when he randomly finds his game in a tournament, he contends. To illustrate that point, just consider the fact he has only finished inside the top 30 five times in 2024, but those five finishes were T14, T6, T4, T5, and solo 10th. When his game is on, it's on.

We could be seeing another example of that at the Memorial. He is second to only Scheffler in strokes gained: approach in this tournament, averaging +3.22 strokes per round with his irons heading into the weekend.

Don't underestimate the Canadian. He's worth a sprinkle at his current live odds.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

You can check out all of Iain's bets here!

4 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

The Memorial Tournament Score Predictions (How will the top golfers fare at Muirfield Village?)

The PGA Tour heads to Muirfield Village for this week's signature event, the Memorial Tournament. All the best golfers on Tour will tee it up at Muirfield as they prepare for next week's U.S. Open.

Attempting to predict the winner is one thing, but how about predicting the exact final score of the winner along with the exact final score of the top 10 golfers in the field? That's what I'm going to attempt to do in this article.

Let's dive in.

All odds listed in this article are via BetMGM Sportsbook

Winning Score: -11

We've seen a wide range of winning scores at Muirfield Village over the years. Even over the past decade, we've had a winning score as high as -7 like Viktor Hovland last year and as low as -19 like Patrick Cantlay in 2019. That makes it difficult to predict the winning score this time around, but I'm going to guess it'll creep into the double-digits at finish at 11 under par.

Scottie Scheffler (+350) Score Prediction: -11

Do you really want to bet against Scottie Scheffler this week? I certainly don't. The fiasco in Louisville is behind him and now he's coming into this event off a week of rest. Not only that, but he has finished third at this event the last two years he's competed in it. It's time for him to reestablish himself in the winner's circle once again.

Rory McIlroy (+900) Score Prediction: -7

Rory McIlroy only has one top 5 finish at the Memorial Tournament. He's had good results, but nothing crazy. Muirfield Village takes come creativity at times and McIlroy doesn't always have that ability. I expect another good but not great result from him this week.

Xander Schauffele (+900) Score Prediction: -9

Schauffele is another golfer, like McIlroy, who hasn't had great results at Muirfield but it's tough not to expect something special from him this week now that he's fresh off his first major victory. There's a chance that big win got the weight off his shoulders and he may just go on a run and rattle off a few more wins. He has statistically been the second-best golfer on the Tour this season.

Collin Morikawa (+1400) Score Prediction: -10

Morikawa has found his game once again. He found his short game in April and has now found his iron play in May. All signs point to him trending in the right direction and now he returns to a course that he's already won at once in his career. This could be his week but I think he may fall just short.

Viktor Hovland (+1800) Score Prediction: -8

The defending Memorial Tournament champion is returning to Muirfield Village in good form after finishing solo third at the PGA Championship a few weeks ago. Did he find his swing again or was that an anomaly performance? We'll find out more about Hovland's 2024 performance this week.

Ludvig Aberg (+2000) Score Prediction: -1

It might be time to sell a bit of stock in Ludvig Aberg. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship, is battling a nagging knee injury, and now goes to a course that doesn't exactly fit his style of play. I don't think he'll be in contention on the weekend.

Justin Thomas (+2500) Score Prediction: -5

Just like Morikawa and Hovland, Thomas is another golfer who had a tough first half of the season but may have found something after finishing T5, T21 and T8 in his last three starts. He finished runner-up at Muirfield Village in 2020.

Patrick Cantlay (+2800) Score Prediction: +1

Cantlay has won this event twice in his year and it's historically been a great course fit for him, but his game is trending in the wrong direction. He has gone T23, T29 and T53 in his last three starts. I think he's going to finish above par this weekend, but if there is a course where he can turn his game around, it's Muirfield Village.

Hideki Matsuyama (+4000) Score Prediction: E

Matsuyama's peak came in February and March and now he seems to be on a downward spiral, finishing T38 and T35 in his last two starts. Much like Cantlay, he's a past winner of this event but his recent metrics make me think this won't be the week for him.

Jordan Spieth (+4000) Score Prediction: +3

Jordan Spieth has been in horrific form. He hasn't finished 28th or better since the Valero Texas Open in early April. His ball striking is bad, his short game is out of sorts, and he can't hit a putt. I'm all out on Spieth this week.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

You can check out all of Iain's bets here!

6 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Brooks Koepka Undervalued, Ludvig Aberg Overvalued in PGA Championship Odds

The golf season's second major is two weeks away and we’re already seeing some interesting odds movement ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 16-19.

PGA Tour rookie Ludvig Aberg has shot up the odds board this year and somehow has shorter odds than multiple major champions who are playing as well, if not better than him currently.

One of those players is reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. A three-time winner of this event coming off an impressive performance that led to victory on the LIV Tour, Koepka is somehow sitting behind Aberg in odds to win, which seems insane considering his form and history at this event. But here we are.

Koepka is currently the fifth-betting favorite with odds of +1600 at FanDuel Sportsbook to hoist his fourth Wanamaker Trophy.

Aberg is +1500 at FanDuel to win the title. That’s tied with two-time major champion Jon Rahm for the third-shortest odds. Only Scottie Scheffler (+400) and Rory McIlroy (+1100) have shorter odds at FanDuel than Aberg.

Directly behind Aberg in the FanDuel odds are Xander Schauffele (+2100), Wyndham Clark (+2400), Collin Morikawa (+2900), and Cameron Smith (+2900), among others. Clark, Morikawa and Smith have all won majors and Schauffele has three-times more top fives in majors (6) than Aberg has appearances.

This is Aberg's second major championship appearance and first PGA Championship. Since its inception in 1916, only nine players have won the PGA Championship in their first appearance. Morikawa was the most recent in 2020. Before that it was Keegan Bradley in 2011 and Shaun Micheel in 2003.

Not impossible, but not likely either.

Aberg finished second at the Masters and T-10 at the RBC Heritage the week after. He’s playing in the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo this week and his performance will be worth monitoring. Those odds still seem high given his lack of experience playing in majors.

Koepka, meanwhile, has rounded into form after a disappointing T-45 finish at the Masters. He admitted he felt “embarrassed” by his performance at Augusta and has a greater focus since, which has led to better results on LIV.

He won the LIV Golf tournament in Singapore this past weekend and shot a three-round 14-under to finish 10th in Australia the week before. His putter was on fire in Singapore and he continues to be one of the best ball strikers in the game.

Koepka won back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018-2019. He also won back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2017-2018. Clearly, he knows how to string together major wins in the same event.

While he hasn’t played well at the most recent two majors (T-64 at the British Open last year to go along with his T-45 at Augusta), putting Koepka behind Aberg in the odds seems wild. Even DraftKings having Koepka and Aberg tied at +1600 is surprising.

Aberg has proven he can play with the most elite players in the world. But he’s yet to prove he can beat them. His lone PGA Tour win was a fall event last year where the top competitor was Mackenzie Hughes at four strokes behind him.

Not exactly a pressure-packed moment.

Aberg faced that pressure at Augusta on the back nine Sunday and pulled his approach shot into the water on 11 and made a double bogey. He rebounded with two birdies on 13 and 14, but he was so far behind Scheffler at that point there the pressure was gone.

This is not to say Aberg won’t contend at the PGA Championship or win a major in the future, maybe even this year. This is more of a note on the odds being off based on experience and historical performance.

Koepka should be ahead of Aberg in the odds, not behind or tied with him. That’s a bet worth considering.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.