Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg took a one-shot lead into the third round of the US Open on Saturday, positioning himself to become the first debut winner in 111 years. Aberg, with a halfway total of five under par, carded a second round of 69 at Pinehurst. He was closely followed by Belgium’s Thomas Detry and the American duo of Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay, who were all one shot back at four under.
A further shot behind were Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, and Matthieu Pavon, with the entire field separated by just 10 shots following the cut, which was set at five over par.
Among those who made the cut were Masters champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler, who scraped through with a birdie-free round of 74. Former Open champion Francesco Molinari also qualified dramatically with a hole-in-one on his final hole, the ninth, bringing him to the cut line at five over.
Aberg’s bid to become the first player to win the US Open on their debut since amateur Francis Ouimet in 1913 has been bolstered by an impressive start to his professional career. Turning pro a year ago, Aberg quickly made his mark by winning on the DP World Tour, helping Europe to regain the Ryder Cup in Rome, where he notably achieved a record 9&7 victory alongside Viktor Hovland against Scheffler and Brooks Koepka. He also secured a win on the PGA Tour in November.
These accomplishments earned the 24-year-old a major debut at the Masters, where he narrowly lost to Scheffler, who went on to win his second green jacket at Augusta National in April.
Reflecting on his performance at the US Open, Aberg said, “I think a US Open is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be tricky and it’s supposed to challenge every aspect of your game, and I feel like it’s really doing that. But I’m super fortunate with the way things have turned out over the last couple of days, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep it up.”