Ludvig Åberg will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the U.S. Open as he looks for a first Major Championship victory in just his third Major appearance.
The Swede has been one of the most compelling stories in the game since turning professional just over 12 months ago, winning on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, helping Europe win the Ryder Cup and rising to sixth on the Official World Golf Ranking.
He finished second on his Major debut at the Masters Tournament in April and a second-round 69 moved him to five under and into pole position to go one better at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club.
Belgian Thomas Detry carded a 67 to sit a shot off the lead alongside Americans Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau, one clear of four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and another home favourite in Tony Finau.
“I think Augusta proved to me that I was able to be in that position and it was more of a justification of like, yeah, you can actually be there and contend on a Sunday,” he said.
“Then obviously the golf course also played very difficult. It demanded a lot of patience and discipline just like this one does.
“I feel like those experiences that I had back in April, they were great. Hopefully we’ll draw some similarities between those. All we try to do is just hit the shots as good as we can and then see where that ends up.”
The Swede is paired with Bryson DeChambeau in the final group on Saturday, with the pair teeing off at 3.35pm local time / 11.35pm GST.
