Ludvig Aberg vs. Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood's name is still on the trophy from a year ago, and there's no getting around that when he's the opponent. He opened his win here with rounds of 64 and 63, one of the more remarkable starts anyone has put together at East Lake, and he's followed it with steady finishes in the years before that. Ignoring a defending champion at his own course is not a decision to make lightly. But a win from twelve months ago doesn't tell me much about how Fleetwood is playing this week, and the answer right now is not well. He limped out of the BMW Championship two-over par, well off the pace, and his putting, a weakness all season, has only gotten worse over his last several starts. Ludvig Aberg is arriving in the opposite direction. He's finished in the top twenty in seven of his last ten starts and top ten in four of them, including a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship, and his ball-striking, both off the tee and into the green, is built for a course that rewards precise, controlled play over raw power. His own East Lake history is not flashy, a pair of finishes in the teens and twenties, but it's the trajectory that matters here, not the resume. Fleetwood earned everything he has at this course. Right now, though, he's cold, and Aberg is hot. Take Aberg as my Matchup of the Month.