European Ryder Cup starlet and Liverpool fan Ludvig Aberg admitted he was 'devastated' to hear the news that Jurgen Klopp would be departing at the end of the season, but welcome the investment of the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) into the PGA Tour.
Aberg has announced himself as golf's hottest prospect since turning professional last June, having recently moved up to No. 11 in the world rankings. His breakthrough comes at a turbulent time for the sport, with the PGA Tour facing competition from their Saudi rivals at LIV Golf.
The latest chapter in the saga came last month, when it was announced that Strategic Sports Group (SSG) had agreed to pledge £2.4 billion ($3bn) into the newly-formed PGA Tour enterprises.
The SSG consortium includes Liverpool owners FSG, who themselves have been in the news in recent weeks away from their golfing investment. This came after the six-time Champions League winners confirmed manager Klopp would leave the club after nine years in the dugout.
Echoing the thoughts of the rest of Liverpool's fanbase, Aberg claimed on Wednesday: "Obviously a couple weeks ago I was pretty devastated when Klopp said he was going to leave, it was one of worst days of my life." The response came after the youngster was quizzed over FSG's new-found alliance with the PGA Tour.
Welcoming the investment of his club's owners, Aberg went on: "Obviously it's pretty cool, they did a tremendous job with Liverpool and I know they'll do the same on the PGA Tour." The agreement with SSG has cast doubt over the PGA Tour's proposed peace deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The American-based circuit has been at war with LIV Golf since the latter's formation in June 2022, but this was expected to come to an end after the Tour announced plans to sign an agreement with PIF. The Saudi-backed league has lured a number of the PGA Tour's big names thanks to its lucrative backing.
Aberg himself was offered the chance to sign on the dotted line with the LIV setup on more than on occasion, but turned down the chance to remain with the PGA Tour. Amid the ongoing drama the 24-year-old is keen to focus on the events on the course rather than off it.
"To be honest, I try not to pay that much attention to it," he said ahead of this week's Genesis Invitational. "All of this is still very new to me and I haven't known anything else since I came out here. I actually remember my first day at Canada last year was when they dropped the news of the merger.
"I just don't know anything else and I try not to pay that much attention to it. I just try to play golf and then figure it out from there." Aberg will be on the hunt for win No. 2 on the PGA Tour in Los Angeles this week, and begins his tournament alongside Nick Hardy and Christiaan Bezuidenhout in the opening two rounds.