Cameron Young powered his way to the biggest victory of his career on Sunday, outdueling playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick to win the Players Championship. Young sank a nine-foot birdie putt on the iconic par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass to forge a tie with Fitzpatrick and then made par on the difficult 18th while Fitzpatrick bogeyed to earn a one-stroke victory.
A winner of his first PGA Tour title in his 94th start at the Wyndham Championship in August, Young, 28, needed only 10 more to capture the tour’s flagship event near tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Young closed with a four-under 68 to finish at 13-under 275. He pocketed $4.5 million.
“I feel like we just kept ourselves in a really good spot all day today, really all week,” Young said with a slight grin. “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.”
Fitzpatrick, attempting to become the first player from England to win the Players, also had a 68 for solo second at 276. Winner of the 2022 U.S. Open, Fitzpatrick had either held or shared the lead since he birdied the 12th hole to catch 54-hole leader Ludvig Aberg. But he drove into the right trees at the par-4 18th hole and eventually failed to save par from eight feet.
Young, meanwhile, two-putted from 15 feet for par after unleashing a drive of 375 yards—reported to be the longest recorded drive on the 18th hole since the ShotLink era began in 2003. When he tapped in for the win, he shared a hug with Fitzpatrick. The two men are teammates on the New York Golf Club squad in TGL, the indoor simulator league.
Aberg, who began the day with a three-shot lead over fellow Ponte Vedra Beach resident Michael Thorbjornsen, became the eighth 54-hole leader in the last 11 years to fail to go on to win. The Swede led by two at the turn but put two balls in the water on consecutive holes at 11 and 12 and shot 40 on the inward nine for a closing 76. He ended up T-5 at nine-under 279.
Thorbjornsen’s hopes were dashed early with a quadruple bogey at the par-four fourth hole. He shot 77-283 to drift back into a tie for 22nd place.
Xander Schauffele birdied three of the last four holes to shoot 69 and finish solo third at 11-under 277. Left-hander Robert MacIntyre, who after 11 holes was tied with Fitzpatrick just two behind Aberg, also had 69 to finish another stroke back.
This was Young's fifth start at the Players, after previously finishing no better than T-51 in 2023.