(Photo credit: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Ludvig Aberg is back at Torrey Pines this week with a familiar mix of confidence and caution.

The Swede arrives ranked No. 19 in the World Golf Ranking and, in a small Torrey quirk, is the most recent winner on the property -- even though he isn't the defending champion of the Farmers Insurance Open.

That title belongs to Harris English, who returns after breaking through here a year ago.

For Aberg, Torrey is also where a promising week turned sideways. He led after the opening round last year, then became ill and slipped well off the pace over the final three days.

Redemption came quickly. Three weeks later, he returned and won the relocated Genesis Invitational on the South Course, a one-time move prompted by California wildfires that forced the tournament away from Riviera.

'I was playing with Harris English last week and we were both kind of saying that it's -- we're both sort of defending champion next week, so it was a little weird,' Aberg said Wednesday ahead of the return to Torrey Pines.

Health is again part of the storyline. Aberg withdrew from last week's American Express after two rounds due to illness but insists he's ready to go at a course that fits his eye and his strengths.

'I think if you look at the past winners here and guys who have had a lot of success on this golf course, you tend to see higher ball speed drivers and you tend to see guys that have the high ball flight with the irons,' Aberg said. 'So do I feel like that fits my game? Probably. ... Did that have anything to do with me winning last year? Maybe, I don't know, but you still have to hit the shots.'

He'll get an early measuring stick, too. Aberg is grouped with Brooks Koepka for the first two rounds, beginning Thursday on the South Course and rotating to the North on Friday. The pairing should draw plenty of attention with Koepka returning to the PGA Tour after leaving for rival LIV Golf in 2022.

'When it was an option for me, I didn't like it,' Aberg said of potentially joining LIV. 'It wasn't anything that I wanted to be a part of, so naturally for me in my position, that wasn't going to be the case. And yeah, absolutely, you know, guys are doing it -- if you're doing it the right way and you want to come back, I have no problem.'

--Field Level Media