Watch moment Ludvig Aberg's driver head comes off (and he still lands on the green)

No wonder Ludvig Aberg is so fancied to end the 45-year curse of the Masters debutant at Augusta next week. Nothing seems beyond his extraordinary gifts.

On Saturday, the Swede drove a par-four green at the Texas Open despite the head of his driver flying off in the process. Strike it up as another fiesta for Aberg, who last October made history for playing in the Ryder Cup before he had even appeared in a major.

Aberg stepped up to the the 17th tee box at TPC Antonio – his eighth hole – during his third round and attempted to fly the green.

Since turning pro Aberg has stood tall against the PGA Tour’s biggest hitters with the driver in hand so it was no surprise but the San Antonio spectators were aghast as his driver head flew off the shaft at impact and propelled itself in the air alongside the ball.

But as Aberg and his playing partners Adam Scott and Davis Thompson were baffled when cheers came roaring 300 yards away by the green as his ball hit the bank before meandering down onto the dance floor to leave himself an eagle putt.

The 24-year-old just missed the 12-foot effort and tapped in for birdie as he carded a three-under opening nine.

This is not the first time Aberg has stunned fans. He achieved his first win on the DP World Tour at the Omega Masters just four months after making the jump in June from college into the professional ranks.

His form earned him a shock call-up into Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team last year and Aberg recorded his first PGA Tour win, at the Sanderson Championship, a week after Team Europe’s victory in Rome.

‘The perfect physique to play this game’

After entering the world’s top ten, it will be no surprise if defending champion Jon Rahm slides the green jacket onto Aberg next week at the Masters. If he does, the Swedish sensation would be the first since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 to prevail at Augusta on debut.

“He’s my dark horse,” said former Ryder Cup captain and current TV commentator Curtis Strange said of the world No 9.

“In the last week some of my researchers at ESPN asked how he can be a dark horse? I said, ‘Well, he’s never played in a major before’. He’s only 24. He’s burst onto the scene so quickly.

“He dominated the college scene. He’s dominated whenever he’s played throughout his whole life, which is very short. He has a swing to envy. He has the size. Looks like the perfect physique to play this game.

“I think the world of his game, and we have a couple of guys like that now on tour. He’s a rookie, but he certainly could play well and, if he won there [Augusta] it wouldn’t surprise anybody, I don’t think.”

However, if Aberg’s driver is unfixable it would not be the ideal preparation before a major with the big stick being a strong part of his game and Augusta is not the place you want to be trying to get the feel back with a new or repaired one.