Åberg rallies to win Genesis Invitational

Ludvig Åberg added a Signature piece of hardware to his sterling PGA Tour career on Sunday, Feb. 16, outlasting a slew of contenders to win The Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.

Åberg, now a two-time PGA Tour winner, birdied four of his last six holes to come from behind and outlast Maverick McNealy by one shot. Åberg sank a 7-foot birdie on the 18th to break the tie and emerge a victor at Tiger Woods’ tournament.

Scottie Scheffler finished in a tie for third with Patrick Rodgers, three back of Åberg.

It was a full-circle moment for the young Swede, who shared the 36-hole lead at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open three weeks ago but struggled to even finish the weekend as he dealt with an illness that caused him to lose eight pounds.

“I sort of felt like I wasn’t myself, wasn’t feeling great, wasn’t swinging great, sort of struggled a bit at home last week with how I was playing,” Åberg said. “(It) was nice to come here sort of starting to feel like myself again and physically getting there. It means a lot.”

Åberg was down by four shots when he walked off the 12th hole Sunday, and admitted he was tracking McNealy’s lead on the leaderboard. But Åberg hit the 592-yard par-5 13th in two shots and two-putted for an easy birdie. Åberg holed a 6-foot birdie on the 14th and a 26-footer on the 15th before adding the closing, decisive birdie on the 18th.

rory — Rory McIlroy hits out of the fairway bunker on the 4th hole at Torrey Pines. McIlroy finished tied for 17th at 3 under and earned $270,714. PHOTO BY THOMAS MELVILLE

rodgers dsc 0056 edited — Patrick Rodgers hits out of the rough on the first hole during his round on Friday, Feb. 14. Rodgers ended up tied for third at 9 under and earned $1.2 million. PHOTO BY THOMAS MELVILLE

kim — Torrey Pines High graduate Michael Kim looks over a putt on the 5th hole’s green during his round on Friday, Feb. 14. Kim finished the tournament tied for 13th at 4 under and earned $384,250. PHOTO BY THOMAS MELVILLE

Åberg earned $4 million for his efforts and is the latest European winner on the PGA Tour this season, joining Sepp Straka, Rory McIlroy, and Thomas Detry.

Torrey Pines Golf Course, stepping in for Riviera Country Club in LA, provided a challenging and visually appealing setting for the tournament, which generated significant buzz and attracted a large viewership (3.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-major golf tournament since 2024). The event also marked a successful return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour as the host.

“This has been a community effort, all of San Diego has come together to make this happen,” Woods said. “Southern California was under some very dire times and I consider San Diego part of SoCal, so to keep the event in SoCal and be able to raise over $8 million, Genesis is donating every single car this week. So we’re trying to help all the people who have been struggling and will continue to struggle because of the fires. This event I think will go a long way to that healing process, but still, a lot of the people here in Southern California need to heal.”