InterviewRyder Cup hero and LFC fan Ludvig Aberg: 'We took inspiration from football'
Self-confessed Liverpool FC fanatic and golfer Ludvig Aberg has been following the Reds ever since he could walk.
As a youngster, he attended Anfield to watch his heroes from his native Sweden, and it is the sport of his favourite football team that, he says, he and his Ryder Cup teammates took inspiration from for their recent historic triumph.
Aberg was a key member of Team Europe last month as they overcame Team USA 15-13 to win the biennial tournament at Bethpage Black.
It was only the fifth time in the competition’s history a European team had left victorious from American soil and their first away win in 13 years.
Aberg and his teammates entered a hostile atmosphere in New York as they took on both the crowds and Team USA to lift the cup.
However, the 25-year-old says part of the preparation was to assess how other professional athletes deal with difficult environments.
“The funny thing is we actually talked a lot about football and that’s the way it is in football and in sports,” Aberg told Liverpoolfc.com on a visit to Anfield on Sunday.
“Anywhere you go, that’s the way the away fans are going to be. We came in to an environment as golfers that we’re not really used to. We’re more used to people applauding us and giving us nice compliments for good shots and that wasn’t the case in New York! It was the polar opposite. I quite enjoyed it. I enjoyed being in that environment.”
On his success at the Ryder Cup, he said: “We had a good week in New York. It was obviously quite stressful and quite intense – but it’s the greatest tournament in the world for us as golfers.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of it twice now and it’s a tournament you never, ever want to miss. Hopefully we can do that many more times in the future. It’s been nice to calm down a little bit in the couple of weeks after and ease into the practice and playing mode again.”
Read on for the rest of the interview…
On embracing the crowd being against him…
I tried to at least and hopefully we can do that again. But we actually draw a lot of inspiration from the footballers and other sports and the way they approach away games and the away crowds.
On the achievement of winning an away Ryder Cup…
For the first two days the team played unbelievable. It was remarkable the guys came together and played together. The scoring was absolutely ridiculous, which was really cool to be a part of. I’m a golfer but also a golf fan so I can appreciate that and step back and really enjoy it. But then with the way the team played we had quite a substantial lead going into the last day and we all thought it was going to be not necessarily the way it turned out. The Sunday got a little stressful at a couple of times, but it was nice to sort of see it through and win under Luke Donald again.
On Liverpool trying to build sustained success as a team…
I think [Arne] Slot talked about the continued success of not doing it just one time but doing it multiple times over and over. I think that’s what separates really good teams from amazing teams. Hopefully Liverpool can do that. Obviously there are a lot of new faces this year in the squad and I think he’s looking to elevate it another step, which I think is very admirable.
On his compatriot and Liverpool striker Alexander Isak…
I’ve watched him play a lot for the national team, which has been great, and followed him since he played at Newcastle as well. I was over the moon when he came, selfishly, as he’s Swedish and I’m Swedish too. I’ll be a big supporter of his and hopefully he can get off the mark pretty well here in his opening campaign and have a good time with Liverpool.
On tasting success and wanting more as a professional…
It’s a good greedy! It’s a good way of having greediness. Ultimately these guys are so professional with the way that they want success and that they demand it from their teammates. That’s the way it should be in top teams. I was fortunate enough to experience it in New York and in Rome during the Ryder Cup. It’s cool to be around really, really good athletes and really good personalities and that’s what Slot is building here as well.