Genesis champion Ludvig Aberg eyes celebratory burger after suffering dramatic weight loss due to Torrey Pines illness
Nothing was going to stop Ludvig Aberg on Sunday – not even a stomach bug that caused him to lose eight pounds in just two days. Sweden star Aberg won the Genesis Invitational after a scorching back-nine that saw him chase down Maverick McNealy to claim victory. Aberg was able to come from behind on the back-nine to claim his second PGA Tour win of his career at the Genesis InvitationalGetty Aberg’s final round 66 saw him finish at 12-under-par, one stroke ahead of McNealy, as he secured his second career PGA Tour win. And he did it coming off an illness that took a significant bite out of him. It began at the Farmers Insurance Open last month and led to him withdrawing from the Pebble Beach Pro-Am after the first round two weeks ago. He spoke on Saturday about the illness for the first time. “Yeah, it was rough for a while,” Aberg said. “It started – round one was fine, round two was fine and I sort of woke up in the middle of the night, I guess this must have been Friday night because we started Wednesday, going into the third round and I started throwing up and I started all these things and it wasn’t very enjoyable. “And then it sort of was OK for a couple days and then at Pebble it kind of shifted to like feverish and almost like body aches and shivering. “First I was really hot, then I got really cold. “Lost about eight pounds total in two days, so that’s not the right way to lose weight.” If you didn’t know what Aberg was dealing with the last couple of weeks, you wouldn’t have been able to tell. Tiger Woods (left) and Aberg (right) celebrated the Swede’s victory together He hit a hole-in-one on Torrey Pines’ iconic par-3 third and stayed hot in his final round to be rewarded with a $4million prize. And he did it in front of an emotional Tiger Woods, who didn’t participate in his event due to the recent passing of his beloved mother, Kultida Woods, but was still there to support his fellow golfers. Woods was awaiting Aberg on the final green to congratulate him and hand him the trophy. And now that a victorious Aberg has regain his strength, he’s eager to put those lost pounds back on. Asked of his likely celebratory meal, the 25-year-old said: “I feel like this is my last day on the West Coast for quite some time, so I think In-N-Out (Burger) would be appropriate. I’m not going to be back on the West Coast for a while so I think I’ll take advantage of that opportunity.” In Aberg’s last 40 PGA Tour starts, he now has two wins, 10 top five finishes, 24 top 25 finishes and was the runner-up at the Masters last year. On his biggest career win so far, Aberg said: “It was awesome. It was a great fight. “Obviously the golf course is tough but felt like I was in control of the ball flight all day and really proud of the way that I finished, it was really cool. “The [par] putt on 12 was big because I think at that point the lead was at 12 [under] and it was a putt to stay at eight. I made it, which was nice, then made a couple of birdies. “It was so much fun coming down the last few holes trying to win a tournament. It really is a special feeling.” The PGA Tour heads south of the border this week for the 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. Aberg, meanwhile, will be hoping to keep up his good form with some more huge events on the horizon. The next Signature Event takes place at Arnold Palmer Invitational from March 6 before The Players takes centre-stage at TPC Sawgrass a week later.
Nothing was going to stop Ludvig Aberg on Sunday – not even a stomach bug that caused him to lose eight pounds in just two days.
Sweden star Aberg won the Genesis Invitational after a scorching back-nine that saw him chase down Maverick McNealy to claim victory.
Aberg’s final round 66 saw him finish at 12-under-par, one stroke ahead of McNealy, as he secured his second career PGA Tour win.
And he did it coming off an illness that took a significant bite out of him.
It began at the Farmers Insurance Open last month and led to him withdrawing from the Pebble Beach Pro-Am after the first round two weeks ago.
He spoke on Saturday about the illness for the first time.
“Yeah, it was rough for a while,” Aberg said.
“It started – round one was fine, round two was fine and I sort of woke up in the middle of the night, I guess this must have been Friday night because we started Wednesday, going into the third round and I started throwing up and I started all these things and it wasn’t very enjoyable.
“And then it sort of was OK for a couple days and then at Pebble it kind of shifted to like feverish and almost like body aches and shivering.
“First I was really hot, then I got really cold.
“Lost about eight pounds total in two days, so that’s not the right way to lose weight.”
If you didn’t know what Aberg was dealing with the last couple of weeks, you wouldn’t have been able to tell.
He hit a hole-in-one on Torrey Pines’ iconic par-3 third and stayed hot in his final round to be rewarded with a $4million prize.
And he did it in front of an emotional Tiger Woods, who didn’t participate in his event due to the recent passing of his beloved mother, Kultida Woods, but was still there to support his fellow golfers.
Woods was awaiting Aberg on the final green to congratulate him and hand him the trophy.
And now that a victorious Aberg has regain his strength, he’s eager to put those lost pounds back on.
Asked of his likely celebratory meal, the 25-year-old said: “I feel like this is my last day on the West Coast for quite some time, so I think In-N-Out (Burger) would be appropriate. I’m not going to be back on the West Coast for a while so I think I’ll take advantage of that opportunity.”
In Aberg’s last 40 PGA Tour starts, he now has two wins, 10 top five finishes, 24 top 25 finishes and was the runner-up at the Masters last year.
On his biggest career win so far, Aberg said: “It was awesome. It was a great fight.
“Obviously the golf course is tough but felt like I was in control of the ball flight all day and really proud of the way that I finished, it was really cool.
“The [par] putt on 12 was big because I think at that point the lead was at 12 [under] and it was a putt to stay at eight. I made it, which was nice, then made a couple of birdies.
“It was so much fun coming down the last few holes trying to win a tournament. It really is a special feeling.”
The PGA Tour heads south of the border this week for the 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld.
Aberg, meanwhile, will be hoping to keep up his good form with some more huge events on the horizon.
The next Signature Event takes place at Arnold Palmer Invitational from March 6 before The Players takes centre-stage at TPC Sawgrass a week later.
