Henrik Stenson's Open triumph should be Swedish national holiday as Ludvig Aberg offers inside track on success

Ludvig Aberg reckons the date of Henrik Stenson’s Open win should be a national holiday in Sweden.

The Ryder Cup hero heads to Troon next week aiming to emulate his countryman’s sensational 2016 success. Aberg admits it had a big effect in homeland as he guns for Claret Jug glory and had a trial run in Ayrshire on Monday with Viktor Hovland. He said: “It was great. We had a very uncharacteristic day in Scotland where it was 20 degrees, sunny and no wind.

“It was my first time there, but I remembered a lot of those holes from when Henrik won in 2016. I think that should be a national holiday in Sweden. I definitely remember watching it as it happened. I was in high school at the time. It was a cool day for Swedish golf. Obviously, what he’s done for Swedish golf is amazing. I’ve never talked to him about it, but hopefully, we can share a conversation about that. It was a great day.”

Aberg was also back in his homeland for a fortnight playing local courses before heading to Renaissance. When he made his debut a year ago, he was a virtual unknown. Now back in East Lothian, Aberg is now World No.4 and amongst the game’s elite.

He can barely believe the whirlwind ride and said: “If someone told me this would happen in 12 months, I’m not sure I would believe that guy. But, on the other hand, I feel like I’ve always had great people around me, people that I trust, the people that helped me a lot. I try not to do it as my job. I just want to be that 16-year-old kid that plays golf and absolutely loves it.”

Aberg is chasing Scottish success, then a first Major and he’ll also be chasing Olympic Gold when he gets to Paris next month. Again Stenson is the benchmark having won a Silver Medal in 2016.

Aberg said: “I was actually in the car watching it, me and my friends. I was not driving! But yeah, I do think The Open was a little bit bigger. Obviously the Olympics is the Olympics. I remember watching Usain Bolt run and Michael Phelps winning the millions of medals that he’s got.

“I think just the experience of representing your country comes with a lot of pride and it’s a feeling that I bet is going to be difficult to compare with. I’m going to stay in the Village at night, to soak it in. I’m not sure I want to go into the gym because I’ll feel not as big! But I definitely want to watch the athletics. I think for me, that’s Olympics a little bit.”

Aberg was also at Wimbledon last week with his partner, tennis ace Olivia Peat. He said: “I’ve always watched the bigger tournaments. But then obviously when I started hanging out with Olivia, my girlfriend, she played tennis in college and I’ve naturally gotten into it a little bit more.

“The place is so cool. There are a lot of similarities between golf and tennis. Wimbledon and Centre Court is kind of like their Mecca.”