Ludvig Aberg announced himself in the second round of the 2026 PGA Championship with a four-under 66 that hauled the Swede back into the heart of the tournament at Aronimink and left him "very optimistic" about his weekend prospects.
A day after struggling to find his swing, Aberg pieced together one of the cleanest cards of a windy Friday morning by hitting more fairways, finding more greens and grinding out a string of mid-range pars on a course that has consistently punished anything less than precise.
"Compared to yesterday, I did most things better," Aberg said. "I was hitting more fairways, I was hitting it closer, and I was making more putts. We knew going into today it was going to be a day of patience with some of those pins. The wind was up early and around. It kind of died down, which made it a little bit easier, but still a difficult golf course. I'm pleased with the way the scorecard kind of showed that patience a little bit today."
Aberg's tournament position at two under par leaves him within striking distance of the co-leaders, and he made no attempt to hide that he is starting to think about the second weekend of a major. He paused, then chose his word carefully.
"Optimistic is a good word," he said. "I like that yesterday I didn't hit the ball very well, but I was able to sort of get back into hitting golf shots again today. I felt like I was striking it nice all day. So, if I can keep that up tomorrow and then keep the patience, I'll be happy."
The 25-year-old emphasised that he was deliberately avoiding the temptation to attack at Aronimink, where players have spent two days complaining about hole locations placed on crowns and ridges.
"There's plenty," Aberg said when asked how many pins he could not even consider attacking. "The one that stands out is definitely 11, where you probably know going in you're not going to get it close. What's cool about this place is it gives you short clubs on a lot of these par fours, but it's still really hard to get it close. Then you mix that in with some strong par threes, and it's a good test. I handled it well today. I didn't try to force anything. I was okay with 20 feet, and I was okay with 25 feet at times. I think that's what you've got to do when you play this golf course."
A standout moment came on the par-four second, where Aberg pulled a sand-wedge half shot down to a back pin that pitched, hopped and stopped on a precise number.
"I really like the wedge I hit on two," he said. "Two is a back pin where it goes away from you behind it, and I was able to take some off of a sand wedge and fly it and hop and stop it really to where I wanted to putt from."
Aberg's preferred green-reading method has become a quiet feature of his rise, and Friday's putt-by-putt patience leaned heavily on the AimPoint system he uses to decode Aronimink's slopes.
"I use the AimPoint system and I play a lot of sort of two to three percent putts," he said when asked about the lack of straight putts. "They're tricky. The light putts are a lot of up and over. Speed is really important, which gets tricky when it's windy, but it's a good test."
A 20- to 25-foot putt for par at the brutal par-four 14th, where a four-iron from a back-right pin tested every member of the field, stood out as the kind of bonus that has separated those grinding from those imploding through two rounds. With heat and firmer conditions forecast for the weekend, Aberg looks built for the test ahead.
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*Originally published on [Golf News](https://golfnews.global/article/ludvig-aberg-pga-championship-2026-round-2-66-patience-aimpoint). Visit for full coverage.*
