AUGUSTA -- Two golfers are one step closer to being the first rookie to win the Masters since 1979 when Fuzzy Zoeller won the green jacket.
Nicolai Højgaard of Denmark climbed the leaderboard on Thursday with a birdie-heavy first round while Ludvig Åberg made waves in the second round with a comeback on the back nine.
Both climbed to the top on Saturday and at one point each held the lead in some form, dancing between six and seven shots under par.
Åberg heads into the final round 4-under par and three shots away from the lead in solo fourth place. His journey to this point has not been linear.
The Swede came into Friday one shot over par after a costly double bogey on hole 15 and continued to struggle through his first holes on Friday, adding another stroke through his first six. Åberg started to pick up momentum at the tail end of his front nine with two birdies on 8 and 9 before pulling off two more on 12 and 13.
He birdied once more on the par-3 16th but bogeyed on 18, a hole plagued by harsh gusts of winds on Friday. Åberg finished two strokes under par and solo fourth place, just four strokes away from the lead going into round three.
He said the key was keeping it simple and letting the wind do the work on Friday.
“It was not easy, but I felt like I played pretty good,” Åberg said. “I especially read the greens very well and hit the putts the way I wanted to. I think to get a score in today, I felt like that's probably what you almost have to do.”
On Saturday, Åberg continued to build on his lead with three birdies on his front nine and another one on hole 13, putting him six shots under par and the co-leader. He followed it up with two bogeys in the next two holes but held par the rest of the way through.
With the wind gone, Åberg said he’s working on taking calculated risks with his caddie Joe Skovron.
“I think what me and Joe have been doing, we're both very disciplined,” he said on Saturday. “We're not trying to force anything. We're not trying to go for pins, and we're not trying to make decisions that will cost us, I guess. We're trying to take calculated risks all the time. I feel like we've been very disciplined toward our targets, and hopefully, we'll be able to do that again tomorrow.”
It’s not only Åberg’s first time at the Masters but also his first time competing for a major title after turning pro last year. He was the top-ranked amateur in the world by the time he graduated from Texas Tech in June.
While Åberg has stayed focused during every hole, he takes the time to enjoy the moment while walking between each shot, he said.
“All I'm trying to do is really enjoy it,” Åberg said on Friday afternoon. “It's my first time here at Augusta National. It's a privilege to be here and play this event, and that's what I'm trying to do for the rest of the week.”
Højgaard came into the third round at solo second place, and at one point held the solo lead, but after a difficult back nine finished tied for sixth place at two shots under par after 54 holes.
He tallied seven birdies and only two bogeys in the first round, which he had to finish early Friday morning because of the rain delay in round one. The wind picked up later in the day to create a difficult second round for most of the players in the field and Højgaard was no exception.
He lost one shot overall to finish 4 under going into round three. Højgaard said the key to fighting the wind on Friday was patience.
“Just be really calm even though you're hitting bad shots that is not necessarily that bad,” he said.
While Højgaard kept a steady ship during the winds of Friday, he struggled once the storm had settled in round three. He opened up his weekend with a bogey on the first hole but recovered with a birdie on hole 2.
He held par for most of his front nine and finished it off with three birdies in a row on holes 8, 9 and 10 and standing at the solo lead seven shots under par. From then everything started to go downhill for Højgaard as he made five consecutive bogeys to fall to sixth place.
“It's just tricky,” he said. “The course is playing tricky. I was probably in a period of my game where it was a little bit tricky and a little bit out of position, but sometimes it's tough to turn it around.”
Both rookies head into Sunday still in contention for the title. Åberg will tee off at 2:25 p.m. in the second to last group while Hojgaard will start at 2:05 p.m.
