Cameron Young is clutch on the
island green and rallies to win The Players Championship
[March 16, 2026]
By DOUG FERGUSON
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Cameron Young delivered the biggest
birdie of his career on the most notorious hole on the TPC Sawgrass,
a sand wedge to 10 feet to tie for the lead in The Players
Championship. And then he was even better on a shot equally
daunting.
Young finally won a big title to go with his major talent on an
electric stage with pressure at every turn. He produced the goods on
the final two holes — the birdie on the wind-blown island-green
17th, and a 375-yard drive down the 18th that set up a one-shot
victory Sunday.
“It’s so loud on 17. You just know kind of all eyes are right there
on you so there’s nowhere to hide,” Young said. “And I feel like I
stepped up really well and hit a bunch of good shots those last
couple holes, so I’m very proud of that.”
Most impressive was the previous day on the 18th hole, his drive
ended with a splash and a double bogey. There was no margin for
error this time, tied for the lead with Matt Fitzpatrick. Young
picked out his line and had one final thought: “I’m going to hit the
best shot of my life right here."
He had never had a thought like that because he had never been in
this position before. But he couldn't think of a better shot he ever
hit. Moments later, Fitzpatrick failed to save par from the trees
when he missed an 8-foot putt.
Young tapped in for par and a 4-under 68.
“The nerves kicked in over the 8-inch putt on the last,” Young said.
“That hole looked really, really small there from pretty close
range."
It was only his second victory on the PGA Tour. He tied the tour
record with seven runner-up finishes before finally winning late
last summer in the Wyndham Championship. But this is the PGA Tour's
crown jewel, loosely known as the fifth major, on a Stadium Course
that taxes brains and more than not breaks hearts.
It was like that for Ludvig Aberg, who had a three-shot lead going
into the final round and was still in control until he imploded on
the back nine with shots into the water on consecutive holes. He
shot 40 on the final nine for a 76 and tied for fifth.
And it felt that way for Fitzpatrick, who thought he nailed his
drive on the 18th only to see it run through the fairway and into
the pine straw. He pitched out to the front of the green, pitched
beautifully to 8 feet and missed the putt to force a playoff. He
closed with a 68.
“I felt like I hit a good drive,” Fitzpatrick said. “And once you’re
out of position it’s difficult to make your par.”
Young finished at 13-under 275 and earned $4.5 million with a
victory that moves him to No. 4 in the world. His objective early in
the year was to get into contention as often as possible to prepare
for the Masters, and he did better than that.
Fitzpatrick was the first to seize on Aberg's collapse, hitting
wedge to tap-in range for birdie on the 12th and a tee shot to 4
feet for birdie on the 13th. Young matched the great tee shot on the
13th for birdie to stay one behind, and it was duel from there.
[to top of second column] |
Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, reacts to his ball hitting the water on the
12th hole during the final round of The Players Championship golf
tournament, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP
Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Young felt that mixture of nerves and confidence, a
lesson learned from his Ryder Cup debut last fall at Bethpage Black
in his native New York. There were a few chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
as he played with Fitzpatrick of England when it became clear the
winner would come from that group.
“That was literally child's play compared to Bethpage,” Fitzpatrick
said about the crowd. “If they think that that was anything, then
they need to reassess. Get yourself up to New York.”
Fitzpatrick three-putted from 60 feet on the 14th to lose the lead,
and he regained it with a 12-foot birdie on the 15th. The closing
two holes belonged to Young on a course where he had not finished in
the top 50 in four previous tries.
“This place has had my number the last few years,” Young said. "And
yeah, it is incredibly taxing. Every shot all day long you can get
yourself into trouble. There’s no easy ones. There’s no givens. And
you’re going to make mistakes. So it’s a great test of will, a test
of patience and obviously a test of hitting some good shots.
“So I feel like I did a lot of those things really well this week.”
Xander Schauffele birdied three of his last four holes, including a
20-foot birdie on the 18th, to close with a 69 and finish third, one
shot ahead of Robert MacIntyre (69).
MacIntyre watched a chip from deep rough on the 16th roll across the
entire green and into the water. Sepp Straka (71) had two double
bogeys on the last five holes, including the 18th when his shot out
of the woods bounced off a cormorant sitting on the wood-framed
edge.
Aberg, however, was the real shocker.
He was still two shots ahead and in the middle of the fairway on the
par-5 11th when he flared one out to the right and into the water,
leading to bogey. On his next tee shot, he pulled that badly into
the water, hit over the green and took three to get down for double
bogey.
That put him three behind, and he never recovered.
“I would have loved to be standing where Cameron is standing right
now,” Aberg said. “It definitely stings a little bit.”
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