NAPA VALLEY REGISTER
ON THE TEE
YOUR GUIDE TO THE WEEK IN PROFESSIONAL GOLF
SHOOTING
STAR
Ludvig Aberg watches his drive off the seventh tee during the final round of the RSM Classic last Sunday in St. Simons Island,
Ga. He went on to win the event, tying the 72-hole tour record with a 253.
From Lubbock to the big time, Swedish star Aberg not easily distracted
DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
S
o much feels like so long ago for
Ludvig Aberg.
“Everything is a long way
from Lubbock,” Aberg playfully re-
plied Sunday after winning at Sea
Island. The question was more about
time than distance, though they ap-
ply equally.
Texas Tech failed to reach match
play in the NCAA Championship on
May 29, and that meant the end of Ab-
erg’s brilliant college career. His con-
solation was being the overwhelming
No. 1 player in the PGA Tour Univer-
sity ranking. For the first time, that
came with a PGA Tour card.
Everyone could see the efficient
swing, the purpose in his putting
stroke, the remarkable poise. He
joined Jon Rahm as the only back-to-
back winner of the Ben Hogan Award
as the nation’s best college player.
How that translated to the highest
level of golf was still to be determined.
In his pro debut, Aberg missed U.S.
Open qualifying by two shots.
That also seems like a long time
ago.
In June, Aberg played with Euro-
pean Ryder Cup captain Luke Don-
ald at the Rocket Mortgage Classic,
leaving quite the impression by
hitting every fairway and all but one
green in a round of 65. In July, he tied
for fourth in the John Deere Classic.
The last week in August, Rory McIl-
roy already was dropping his name
as a potential Ryder Cup rookie.
“We know he’s going to be on the
Ryder Cup for the next 15 years,”
McIlroy said. “Would you rather give
him a chance in Rome or throw him
into the fire at Bethpage?”
Aberg tied for fourth in the Czech
Masters that week. He won in Swit-
zerland the first weekend in Septem-
ber. Donald picked him for Europe’s
team and no one was surprised, only
amazed that Aberg would be the first
to play in a Ryder Cup without ever
having played in a major.
He went 2-2 at Marco Simone,
Azinger, NBC don’t renew contract
DOUG FERGUSON | Associated Press
Nothing ramps up speculation in
golf like an opening in the broadcast
booth.
Paul Azinger and NBC Sports failed
to reach an agreement on a new con-
tract for the lead analyst. Those close
to Azinger said he had planned on
working one more year, but NBC has
been in a cost-cutting mode and ne-
gotiations didn’t get very far.
That explains why Azinger said he
was surprised and disappointed.
NBC has two golf events left this
year, the Hero World Challenge in the
Bahamas — marking the return of Ti-
ger Woods — and the PNC Champion-
ship in Orlando, Florida, where Woods
is likely to be playing with his son.
So who’s next? NBC has had two
00
1
SPORTS
flew the next day to Mississippi
and lost in a five-man playoff at the
Sanderson Farms Championship.
And at the RSM Classic on Sunday,
the last PGA Tour event of the sea-
son, he tied the 72-hole tour record
of 253 and broke the record for the
last 36 holes by going 61-61 on the
weekend.
So maybe, as Mac Davis famously
sung, happiness is Lubbock, Texas,
in his rearview mirror. Except the
polished and polite Swede with his
strapping 6-foot-3 frame, sweet
smile and killer instinct wouldn’t
trade his time at Texas Tech.
“Once I did my visit, I fell in love
with it,” Aberg said. “I still call it my
second home.”
He still lives in Lubbock, though
he has told fellow Swede and good
friend Vincent Norrman he would
take up one of his guest rooms in
Tallahassee, Florida. Neither re-
semble Aberg’s real home of Eslov,
a town of about 20,000 in southern
Sweden.
Regardless of where he is, there is
purpose. That’s what stood out to
Texas Tech coach Greg Sands, who
was at Marco Simone and at Sea Is-
land for Aberg’s first PGA Tour title.
“Everybody falls in love with the
physical side of things, and all those
things visually you get to see up
close,” Sands said when Aberg was
picked for the Ryder Cup. “To me,
it’s his ability to compartmentalize a
moment. He keeps things simple. He
doesn’t let distractions get him off.”
That includes LIV Golf.
Aberg told Swedish newspaper
Expressen about the spring day in
2022 when he noticed a man at one
of his tournaments, dressed differ-
ently enough that it was clear he was
there as more than a spectator.
He said the man was a represen-
tative for Saudi-funded LIV who
later reached out to Sands to make
Aberg an offer. Expressen originally
reported the offer was $15 million.
In an interview in February this year
with SVT Sport in Sweden, Aberg
lead analysts — Johnny Miller and
Azinger — since 1990.
Justin Leonard had been working
for NBC until he returned to play-
ing on the PGA Tour Champions this
year. Reached at home Monday night,
Leonard had no insight on NBC’s
plans and said only, “I’m enjoying my
playing gig.”
David Duval also played extensively
on the PGA Tour Champions after his
work at NBC Golf Channel where he
delivered cerebral commentary. He
was at a resort not far from Denver
with his wife and didn’t know Azinger
wasn’t returning until a day after the
announcement.
“Would I listen? Of course,” Duval
said Monday night when asked if he had
interest. “But no one has reached out.”
AP FILE PHOTO
said it was $2.5 million for two years,
or a $100,000 fee for playing the
first three or four LIV events in the
inaugural season.
That was a distraction. Aberg kept
it simple.
“Red flags, this is not good,” he
told SVT Sport. “We understood
that potentially I could burn a lot of
bridges and I was not interested in
doing that.”
His goal all along was to play on
the PGA Tour and European tour (he
already has won on both), to play in
the majors (he’ll finally get there in
April at the Masters) and the Ryder
Cup (he played his first one just four
months after turning pro).
LIV picked up two college play-
ers — Eugenio Chacarra (Oklahoma
State) and David Puig (Arizona
State), along with U.S. Amateur
champion James Piot, who already
has been relegated out of the rival
league after two years.
Chacarra, with a LIV win, has made
$10.2 million in two years. Puig has
made $4.3 million. Aberg already has
over $3.8 million in six months, along
with access to the majors and the Ry-
der Cup. So when asked if he had any
regrets, there was no hesitation.
“No, not for a second, actually,”
he said. “The most important thing
for me is to feel good. ... In five or 10
years, I don’t want to look back on
this and have regrets. In my head, it
really isn’t the right way to compete
and play.”
The interview with STV Sport
took place four months before he
turned pro.
“It’s clear that I have never seen
these sums of money before so
it’s obvious that you raise some
eyebrows a little,” he said. “It is
life-changing money, but I still want
to believe that a good player can still
get by. You come out on the PGA
Tour and compete.”
That’s exactly what he has done in
such a short time that objects in his
rearview mirror, like Lubbock, seem a
lot farther away than they really are.
Otherwise, names are being kicked
around from Brad Faxon to Bran-
del Chamblee, whose work has been
exclusively on shows before and af-
ter tournament rounds. Former U.S.
Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, one of
golf’s most insightful players, and for-
mer Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley
of Ireland also come to mind.
NBC also recently let go of Brandt
Packer, a producer for 11 years with
versatility of working PGA Tour, PGA
Tour Champions, college and other
prominent amateur events.
“It was not my decision,” Packer
said. “I would have loved to be back
with them.”
NBC has not commented on its cuts Paul Azinger will no longer be the lead golf analyst for NBC
except to thank Azinger for his work Sports, ending his five years with the network at the Ryder
and wish him well.
HOLIDAY EDITION • NOVEMBER 22-23, 2023 | B7
THIS WEEK
EUROPEAN TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA
FORTINET AUSTRALIAN PGA
CHAMPIONSHIP
Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane, Australia
Yardage: 7,134; Par: 71
Prize money: $2 million Australian dollars; Winner’s share:
$370,000 Australian dollars
Television: Wednesday-Saturday, 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. (Golf
Channel)
Defending champion: Cameron Smith
What to know: This begins the biggest two-week swing
through Australia that also serves as the start of the
2023-24 European tour season. ... Cameron Smith is the
defending champion and the highest-ranked player in the
field. He won twice on LIV Golf this year. He is going for
his fourth Australian PGA title. ... Other LIV Golf players
in the field are Marc Leishman, Joaquin Niemann and
Mito Pereira. ... Adrian Meronk of Poland is playing
one week after securing a PGA Tour card for 2024. Other
players in the field who are eligible for PGA Tour cards
through the European tour are Ryo Hisatsune and Robert
MacIntyre. ... Rod Pampling is playing. He finished 19th
in the Charles Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions. ...
The top 50 in the world at the end of the year get Masters
invitations. Among those on the bubble are Meronk, Lee
and MacIntyre. ... The tournament dates to 1929.
EUROPEAN TOUR AND SUNSHINE TOUR
JOBURG OPEN
Houghton GC in Johannesburg
Yardage: 7,227; Par: 70
Prize money: 17.5 million rand: Winner’s share: 332,500
rand
Television: Thursday-Friday, 5-10 a.m. (Golf Channel);
Saturday-Sunday, 5-9:30 a.m. (Golf Channel)
Defending champion: Dan Bradbury
What to know: The tournament is co-sanctioned by the
European tour and Sunshine Tour. It starts the 2023-24
European tour season. ... The top three finishers not
already exempt earn a spot in the British Open at Royal
Troon next year. ... South African players with LIV Golf in
the field include Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and
Dean Burmester. ... Dylan Frittelli is listed as taking a
spot from players who finished between No. 126 and No.
200 in the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour. The European tour
is offering five such spots a week in their fields. ... The
Joburg Open dates to 2007 and has always been part of the
European tour schedule. ... Schwartzel is a two-time winner
of the Joburg Open. ... Thriston Lawrence, who won the
tournament in 2021, narrowly missed out on eligibility for a
PGA Tour card through the Race to Dubai ranking.
PGA TOUR
Last week: Ludvig Aberg won the RSM Classic
Next tournament: End of season
LPGA TOUR
Last week: Amy Yang won the CME Group
Tour Championship
Next tournament: End of season
CHIP SHOTS
RYDER CUP AND MJ: The Ryder Cup celebration didn’t end
in Rome, at least not for Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy.
In the second part of an interview with The Irish In-
dependent, they talk about their flight home to South
Florida and then McIlroy inviting Lowry over for lunch
the next day. A bottle of wine was opened. And then
another. And lunch turned into dinner. Captain Luke
Donald soon joined them, as did Michael Jordan.
“Rory and Luke started texting him, and the next thing
we’re sitting there drinking with Michael Jordan, just
the four of us,” Lowry said. “He’s very much a pro-USA
guy. I think it was the first Ryder Cup he hadn’t been to
in 25 years, so we gave him a good slagging.”
McIlroy said Jordan stayed from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Among the topics: Pay for play, of course.
“He told a story about the U.S. basketball team, the
Dream Team at the Olympics in ’92. ‘Do you not think I
could have got paid to play in the Olympics?’” he said.
”‘These people are missing the point of what it means.’
“He saw the long-term value of winning an Olympics,
and said he ended up doing way better than if he had
taken money there and then.”
McIlroy said Lowry desperately wanted a photo of the
group,butasafellowsportingfigure,“Hedoesn’tneedthat.”
“But ... myself, Rory, Luke and MJ sitting around
talking about the Ryder Cup,” Lowry said. “Not really
how I envisioned the celebrations.”
DIVOTS: Atthaya Thitikul won the Vare Trophy for the
lowest scoring average (69.53) on the LPGA this year.
She is the second Thai to win the award, joining Ariya
Jutanugarn in 2018. ... Luke List won $300,000 through
RSM’s “Birdies Fore Love” competition for recording the
most birdies (or better) over the seven events of the 2023
FedEx Cup Fall. The money will be donated to a charity
of List’s choice.
AP FILE PHOTO
Cup.