Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young finally showing promise of past seasons

When Ludvig Aberg and Cameron Young mounted charges on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it seemed like it was about time.

Both Aberg and Young have been exceedingly close to delivering on the promise of their talent since they reached the PGA Tour. On Sunday, Aberg made a true effort, posting six birdies and having only one bogey on the tough Bay Hill golf course. Young was higher on the scoreboard when his round started, and he carded three birdies of his own for the round and no bogeys. While they were outpaced by Akshay Bhatia, the eventual winner, they were at least advancing rather than falling back.   

Usually, the trajectory for a true star’s path shows up first on leaderboard presence. Not just once. Many times. After that it’s contending in tournaments, especially majors. Then the next step is a big victory.

Both have succeeded in reaching those plateaus. And Aberg has gone a step further than Young with his victory in a Signature Event.  

Young, you’ll recall, finished third in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in 2022. He was second in the British Open that same season. In fact, he had five second-place finishes in the 2022-2023 season and was voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

However, it took him several years to cross the finish line to victory. That finally came last year at the Wyndham. He has participated in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.

If it’s an advantage to have a parent as a PGA professional, he has that, too. His father is the head pro at prestigious Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Westchester County, NY.

In short, he has done nearly everything an up and coming professional needs to do to become a star in the sport.

Ludvig Aberg had a different route. He went to Texas Tech, where he finished first in the PGA Tour University rankings for 2023. That gave him a PGA Tour card. Like many aspiring professionals, he played in some PGA Tour events while in college, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished 24th.

Then, in June of that same year, he turned pro and began playing PGA Tour events, starting with the Canadian Open where he finished 25th. It was an auspicious start.

After the British Open, he stayed in Europe, and in August, he won the Omega European Masters. That made him a candidate for the European Ryder Cup team to be played that fall.

After the Ryder Cup, he returned to the U.S. and played the PGA Tour, carving out his first U.S. victory at the RSM Classic, the last regular tournament of the 2023 season.

Then he was injured. A meniscus. It was a slowdown no one wanted. But Aberg recovered to win the Genesis Invitational in 2025. Like Young, he seemed poised for greater things.

Now, both are in the biggest tournaments of the year with a chance to showcase their talents. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, they finished tied for third with two-time major champ Collin Morikawa. The next step for both of them should be accumulating more top-level victories and contending in majors.  

If they truly reach their potential, it will be exciting to watch.