Red Raiders at The Open Championship: Ludvig Åberg’s Dream Fades After Sunday Stumble

Ludvig Åberg arrived at Royal Birkdale with a broken driver and left himself positioned to break through on golf’s biggest stage.

The former Texas Tech star entered Sunday’s final round of the 2026 Open Championship at 6-under, tied for sixth and only four shots behind leader Sam Burns. Åberg had a legitimate path to the Claret Jug.

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Then Royal Birkdale slammed the door.

Åberg failed to generate the fast start he desperately needed and dropped a shot at the third hole, falling to 5-under as the players ahead of him started pushing the winning score farther away.

Si Woo Kim climbed to 10-under, while Cameron Young posted 9-under in the clubhouse.

Suddenly, Åberg wasn’t chasing one golfer. He was staring at an entire wall of contenders.

That disappointing Sunday turn shouldn’t erase what had been an impressive week.

Åberg opened the championship with a 1-over 71 before attacking the course with a second-round 66.

He followed that with a composed 3-under 67 on Saturday, overcoming an early bogey with four birdies to earn a place among the final-round contenders.

Through 54 holes, the 26-year-old had placed himself ahead of several major champions and proven that his game could handle the wind, pressure and unpredictability of links golf.

Åberg missed the cut in his first Open appearance in 2024 and improved to a tie for 23rd in 2025.

Entering the final round with a chance to win represents another major step in his rapid professional rise.

But Sunday required something special.

Starting four strokes behind meant Åberg needed immediate birdies, aggressive iron play and mistakes from Burns and the rest of the leaders.

An early bogey produced the exact opposite effect. Instead of applying pressure, Åberg was forced to chase a winning number that kept climbing.

His chances didn’t disappear entirely, but the required finish became increasingly unrealistic. Åberg needed a barrage of late birdies and collapses from multiple players above him.

That’s a brutal assignment, even for one of golf’s most gifted young players.

Åberg may not leave Royal Birkdale with the Claret Jug, but his week should still resonate in Lubbock.

He survived a bizarre travel ordeal, recovered from an uneven opening round and entered Sunday with a major championship within reach.

MORE: Ludvig Åberg Leads Texas Tech Charge Into Open Championship Sunday

The victory charge may have stalled.

The evidence that Åberg is getting closer to winning one, however, is becoming impossible to ignore.