Ludvig Åberg breaks driver head, drives green, plays into contention at Valero Texas Open

SAN ANTONIO — In less than a year as a professional, Ludvig Åberg has already established himself as one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world.

Even when his driver head literally falls off.

Åberg drove the 17th green at TPC San Antonio early Saturday morning — a 301-yard poke through the mist that settled 11 feet from the hole — just as his Titleist TSR2 head went skipping down the tee. The former Texas Tech University standout birdied the hole with two putts in his first tournament as a professional in the state of Texas.

He had someone fetch his backup driver from the locker room and played the remaining 10 holes of the Valero Texas Open at 2-under par. He shot 5-under 67 to climb into the top five early at 6-under through 54 holes. When asked after his round what he felt he did best, he replied without irony: “I drove it well.”

Åberg, the ninth-ranked player in the world, made the cut by two shots after shooting 72-71 over the first two rounds. He started Saturday on the 10th hole.

He said his swing on the 299-yard 17th felt perfectly normal. The ball looked like any other driver shot, noted his caddie.

Åberg said the screw that connects the head to the shaft likely came loose.

“It’s on me,” he said. “I should’ve checked. ... It was odd. It was bizarre. It was just quite surreal.”

In his long experience in golf, Åberg had never seen a head separate from the shaft on an otherwise fine shot.

“At the end of the day I feel like I put a pretty good swing on it,” he said. “Which is all that matters.”

At the end of the day, he's in contention to win his second title on TOUR on Sunday.