Cameron Young clinched his second PGA Tour title and the biggest win of his career with a sensational one-shot victory at The Players Championship on Sunday after a drama-laden afternoon at TPC Sawgrass.
One stroke behind England’s Matt Fitzpatrick with two holes to play, Young drew level with a birdie at the par-3 17th after hitting a brilliant tee shot to 9 1/2 feet and then coolly parred the last to card a 4-under-par 68.
That left the New York native at 13-under 275 in the PGA Tour’s flagship event and one ahead of Fitzpatrick, who also closed with a 68 after his tee shot at the 18th wound up on pine straw in the tree line to the right of the fairway and led to a bogey 5.
Former U.S. Open champion Fitzpatrick had a chance to force a three-hole playoff after lining up a par putt from 8 1/2 feet on the 18th green, but his attempt slid past the right edge of the cup and he had to settle for second place.
Two-time major champion Xander Schauffele closed with a 69 to claim third place at 11 under, a stroke in front of World No. 8 Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, who also signed off with a 69.
“I feel like we just kept ourselves in a really good spot all day today, really all week,” Young said after the relief of knocking in his short par putt on the 18th green. “The nerves kicked in over the 8-inch putt on the last. That hole looked really, really small there from pretty close range. So happy to have finished it off, and just really excited to have played the way I did.”
Young, whose first PGA Tour victory came at the 2025 Wyndham Championship, was delighted to emerge triumphant in a tournament that attracts one of the deepest fields in golf and is unofficially called the fifth major.
“To have now put my name on two different tournaments, and a big one like The Players, I mean, it’s incredibly special and I’m hoping that I can continue that throughout the season,” the 28-year-old smiled.
Fitzpatrick, in pursuit of a third PGA Tour win, made a fast start to the final round with three birdies in the first four holes and he led Young by a shot after sinking a 13-foot birdie putt at the par-4 15th.
“I just felt like I did a ton of really good stuff,” Fitzpatrick said after a round that included six birdies and two bogeys. “It’s obviously frustrating not to come away with a little bit better.”
The 31-year-old Englishman felt that he had hit a good tee shot on 18, given that the wind was coming in off the right.
“I know Cam hits a draw,” Fitzpatrick said. “His moved a little bit, as well. Figured mine would do the same … but mine has just gone dead straight there and just run through. Like I say, I felt like I hit a good drive, and once you’re out of position it’s difficult to make your par.”
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, who had led the tournament by three shots overnight, was two ahead with eight holes to play on Sunday before his title bid dramatically unraveled with a bogey at the par-5 11th and a double bogey at the par-4 12th. He had to settle for a share of fifth place at 9 under after returning a 76.
“Obviously I’m really disappointed,” said Aberg, who was seeking his third PGA Tour victory. “I felt like I was striking it OK early on. But overall pleased with the week. Today the back nine was not good, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Aberg, the tournament leader after the second and third rounds, offset a birdie at the par-5 second with a bogey at the par-4 fourth to reach the turn two shots ahead of Fitzpatrick and MacIntyre.
However, his title bid was severely shaken when he bogeyed the 11th after his second shot sailed right into a water hazard. Fitzpatrick, in the group ahead, made a birdie at the par-4 12th after hitting his approach to 3 feet and that moved him into a two-way tie at the top with the Swede at 12 under.
Fitzpatrick then seized the outright lead at 13 under with another birdie at the par-3 13th, striking a superb tee shot there to 4 feet and coolly sinking the putt.
Even worse was to follow for Aberg at the 12th, where he ran up a double-bogey 6 after hooking his tee shot way left into water, and that dropped him to 10 under — three strokes off the pace.
From there, the tournament effectively came down to a battle between Young and Fitzpatrick.
“It got away from me quick there,” Aberg said of Nos. 11 and 12. “Yeah, it was just poor swings … Obviously really disappointed. I would have loved to be standing where Cameron is standing right now. But overall I still felt like I saw some nice things in my game this week.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the Players champion in 2023 and 2024, ended his week at TPC Sawgrass with a 1-under 71 to finish in a tie for 22nd at 5 under.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, the World No. 2, was left to reflect on “not the week that I wanted” after he signed off with a 71 and an even-par total, tied for 46th.
The Northern Irishman withdrew from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational after two rounds due to a back injury and he did not play a single practice round at TPC Sawgrass after only arriving at the venue on the eve of the tournament.
“Happy I got through four days and my body feels good,” McIlroy said after mixing five birdies with two double bogeys in the final round. “I feel like my game sort of progressively got a little bit better as the week went on, even though the scores probably didn’t reflect it over the weekend. I hit the ball well. I just didn’t make anything on the greens.
“Happy to come through four rounds and feel like my body held up well. A couple little things to work on but, overall, not the week that I wanted. Just trying to take the positives.”
Chad Ramey had a final round to remember, closing with a 71 that included an ace at the par-3 13th where he holed out with a 7-iron from 169 yards. It was the first ace of his PGA Tour career.
“I was hitting kind of a smooth 7-iron and it landed perfectly, almost pin high right on the slope and fed right down to the hole,” said the 33-year-old American, who tied for 27th at 3 under.
“It was great, especially in the moment. I couldn’t get any putts to fall, so to not have to putt, that was nice.”
–Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
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