Ludvig Åberg to wear knee brace during PGA Championship

Ludvig Åberg plans to wear a knee brace at this week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club — a venue the Swedish star called a “big-boy golf course.”

Åberg, 24, told reporters Wednesday that he withdrew from last week’s Wells Fargo Championship for precautionary reasons.

“Knee’s good. It was more of a safety concern last week that I didn’t play,” Åberg said. “I’m consulting with my doctors and I trust them with everything that I have, so it’s not bothering me at all this week and I look forward to playing.”

Åberg said he doesn’t expect to have any limitations Thursday when play begins on the 7,609-yard course.

“I’m wearing a brace just for safety, but it’s nothing that’s bothering me,” Åberg said. “I’m focusing on the golf.”

Åberg, the No. 6 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, competed in his first major last month and finished second to Scottie Scheffler at the Masters. He followed that up with a top-10 finish at the RBC Heritage.

He has played professionally for just 11 months since completing a strong collegiate career at Texas Tech and earning his card through the “PGA Tour University” pathway. In that time, he’s made the European Ryder Cup team and won a tournament on both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.

“Obviously I’m still doing a lot of firsts when I’m playing these tournaments,” Åberg said. “This week is my first PGA Championship and only my second major. I’m feeling all these things that first-timers do, and it’s the same thing for me. So I try to focus on the golf.

“At the end of the day, this is what I’ve been wanting to do since I was a little boy and I love doing it.”

Playing at Valhalla for the first time, Åberg acknowledged that the wet conditions this week and the length of the course suit his game.

“I like to think that I can hit it high and long. That way, you know, you take away a lot of those things, I guess,” Åberg said. “It’s quite nice because the zoysia grass in the fairways, you can actually launch it pretty high with the irons because it’s sitting up so high. You can get a little bit more smash on it.

“It’s a tough golf course. I think everyone is just trying to manage their game the best they can and see where it takes us on Sunday.”