Ludvig Aberg’s Former Caddie Reveals Reason For Split: ‘I Was Shocked’

Jack Clarke was on Ludvig Aberg’s bag for two professional wins, eight top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour and a Ryder Cup victory, yet his player still decided to go a different direction for 2024. 

Earlier this week, NBC Sports reported that the 23-year-old Swede would be adding veteran caddie Joe Skovron to his bag in the new year. Clarke was notified that the Grant Thornton Invitational would be his last event with Aberg, who was teamed up with Clarke’s fiancee, Madelene Sagstrom, in the mixed-gender event. That connection was what initially brought Aberg and Clarke together—Sagstrom is also from Sweden and sees the same swing coach as the recent college grad. 

It’s easy to understand why Clarke was shocked to hear that Aberg wanted to make a change. Aberg is just six months removed from his senior season at Texas Tech, and in that time he has risen over 3,000 places in the world rankings. In an interview with Bunkered, Clarke revealed that the decision was a “shock.” But Aberg simply wanted a caddie with more experience. 

“He just turned around to me the week before last and said he was going to let me go, purely based on wanting more experience on the bag,” Clarke told Bunkered. “Before the conversation I didn’t see it coming because of the results we had together but I totally respect his decision.” 

“I was shocked and disappointed by the decision, but at the end of the day it’s his decision to hopefully become what he wants to become,” he continued. 

Clarke caddied for Aberg for the first six months of his professional career, during which he won two events. 

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Aberg emphasized to Clarke that he was looking for a caddie who was well-versed in major championship golf. The Swede has yet to tee it up in one of the game’s four marquee events, despite having already played in a Ryder Cup. He’ll make his first major appearance at the 2024 Masters.

Skovron, who was on Rickie Fowler’s bag for 13 seasons, has over 50 major championship starts on his resume. For the past year, Skovron has been caddying for Tom Kim. The breakout South Korean star finished T2 at the Open Championship and T8 at the U.S. Open. 

“When he said the experience in majors, I can’t say too much about it because I don’t have that,” Clarke said. 

Aberg and Skovron will team up for the first time at The Sentry—formerly the Sentry Tournament of Champions—which kicks of the PGA Tour calendar year from Jan. 4–7.