Is it time to start worrying about Ludvig Åberg?
The 25-year-old rising star shot a 3-over 75 in the first round of the Memorial Tournament on Thursday, and while Muirfield Village was playing plenty difficult, he was still on the bottom half of the 72-man leaderboard. And with this being one of the Signature Events with a 36-hole cut, that's not where you want to be.
He was 2-under through his first five holes before double bogeys at the par-4 sixth hole and the par-5 11th hole derailed his round. The problem is that this isn't anything new for Åberg over the last few months.
The Swede got off to a hot start in 2025, finishing T5 at the season-opening Sentry with a final score of 24-under. A month later, he grabbed his first big win on the PGA Tour at The Genesis Invitational, which seemed to be the start of a career year, one that could push him to the elite tier of golfers on Tour.
Since then, though, things have taken a turn for the worse.
After a T22 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Åberg missed the cut in back-to-back starts at The Players Championship and the Valero Texas Open.
Yes, he finished seventh at The Masters, but over the last month or so, he finished T54 at the RBC Heritage, T60 at the Truist Championship, and missed the cut at the PGA Championship.
Of the 72 players in the Memorial field, Åberg ranks 48th in total strokes gained, 58th in strokes gained on approach, and 59th in strokes gained from short game over his last 20 rounds. Even if you include his strong start to the season, he has been a below-average PGA Tour player in 2025.
The Texas Tech product ranks 111th on the PGA Tour this season in total strokes gained, 136th in strokes gained on approach, 141st in strokes gained from putting, 104th in driving accuracy, 136th in scoring average, and 134th in bogey avoidance. That's not the statistical profile of a top-tier player.
During his opening round at Muirfield Village, Åberg lost 2.127 strokes on approach and 1.093 strokes from around the green. He hit only nine of 18 greens in regulation despite driving the ball well. Iron play is everything on the PGA Tour, and he's spiraling toward his fourth straight start in which he's lost strokes on approach.
This is obviously a concerning trend for one of the brightest stars in the game of golf.
Åberg can still bomb the ball off the tee—the skill all young players have mastered in 2025—but the rest of his game is not where it needs to be. Just a year ago, we were lauding him as a unique golfer with no glaring weaknesses. Now, it's hard to find more than one strength.
In 2024, he recorded eight top-10 finishes, 14 top-25s, and only two missed cuts in 20 official PGA Tour starts. He's already three missed cuts this season and has just three top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
There's still plenty of time to turn his year around, but the alarm is sounding on Åberg Island.