Ludwig Aberg laughed with a bloody nose.
NBC Sports
Sweden is not a flat country, the highest point in the whole country is only 7,000 feet. So it's safe to say, the hottest name in Swedish golf at the moment, Ludwig Aberg, has probably never experienced the effects of prolonged exposure to extreme heights back home.
With this week's BMW Championship host, Castle Pines, sitting at an elevation of 6,200 feet in the Colorado Rockies, it seems that Aberg clearly sees the effects of altitude on the human body and it hit him at an inopportune time on Saturday.
But the 24-year-old treated it like a seasoned vet.
Aberg started the third round of the BMW four shots clear of Adam Scott after matching the 2013 Masters winner, 20 years his senior, with a 63 on Friday. He was close to the par-5 first two, but left his third shot short, leaving him with a 53-foot putt from the green at Castle Pines for an easy second hole.
But as Aberg continued his approach over the putt, he must have felt something dripping down his nose. He was standing over the ball, about to get into his position.
You know the feeling. You think it might be a little snot coming down your nose, but you don't know for sure unless you touch your nose to see what's coming from your hand. Given the dry mountain air in Colorado, there is a very high chance of a nosebleed.
Casually, almost as if it were part of his routine, Aberg touched his nose. It came back slightly red.
“Welcome to Colorado,” said NBC analyst Smylie Kaufman. “This is high, dry air.”
Aberg stepped away from the putt, smiled and started laughing. It was one of those moments where the timing was so ridiculously perfect, you couldn't help but laugh.
Then Aberg took his towel from caddy Joe Skovron and, in a completely unaltered moment, began wiping the blood with the dirty end of the towel.
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You know, the side of the towel you use to clean dirt off golf clubs. Not the white finish you use to sweat.
Apparently, there is no shortage of towels for Aberg, who has seen a rocket-like rise in the world of golf, already ranked No. 4 in the world in his first full season on the PGA Tour. But, he chose to keep that white finish anyway, for whatever reason. Maybe it was the hard look.
Aberg was laughing the entire episode with good humor, but he had even more reason to laugh after hitting the putt.
His ball hit the flagstick before dropping in for an eventful birdie 4.
At first, he remained stoic and calmly waved to the crowd, but he couldn't hide his smile for long and started laughing again.
Finally he got a piece of tissue to stuff his nose to stop the bleeding. But someone still has to get him and Skovron a new towel in Round 4.
His day would be like the first hole as he made two more birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 to take a solo lead at 12 under after Scott played the first three holes behind him. He dropped back to 8 under with two bogeys and a double but returned to 10 under thanks to an eagle on the 14th.
That put him two shots back of Keegan Bradley going into the final round.
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