Cameron Young snatched victory at The Players after Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick saw their title hopes fade on a remarkable Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
Young overturned a four-stroke deficit in a thrilling final round, mixing five birdies with a lone bogey to post a four-under 68 and snatch a one-shot victory over playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick had come from five behind to charge into the lead with two holes to play, having seen Åberg blow his three-shot overnight lead when he dropped four shots in a five-hole stretch on the back nine.
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Ludvig Åberg went into the water on back-to-back holes at The Players to throw away his lead
Young pulled level with the Englishman with a birdie on the par-three 17th, then secured a one-shot victory when Fitzpatrick found trees on the 72nd hole and failed to hole an eight-foot par putt to force a play-off.
Victory is Young’s second on the PGA Tour and first since last year’s Wyndham Championship, securing him the $4.5million first prize, with Fitzpatrick runner-up on 12 under ahead of Xander Schauffele and Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre claiming fourth spot.
How Young edged Sawgrass thriller
Åberg was immediately put under pressure by playing partner Michael Thorbjornsen, only for the debutant to cancel out a birdie at the second with a quadruple-bogey at the par-four fourth, while Fitzpatrick, Young and Viktor Hovland all made early moves on the final day.
The Swede also took advantage of the same par five but failed to get up and down to save par at the fourth, with a run of pars to complete his front nine keeping him two ahead of MacIntyre and Fitzpatrick at the turn.
Ludvig Åberg has now only converted one of his four 54-hole leads worldwide
Young was a further shot behind after reaching the turn in 35 but went tied-second after starting his back nine with a birdie, with all moving closer to the lead when Åberg found water with his approach into the par-five 11th and made bogey.
Åberg also double-bogeyed the next after finding water off the tee, as Fitzpatrick – playing in the group ahead – picked up a shot at the 12th and joined Young in birdieing the 13th to go one ahead.
Young pulled level when Fitzpatrick bogeyed the 14th, only for the Englishman to hole a 15-foot birdie at the next, before momentum flipped again when Young rolled in from 10 feet to add another at the 17th hole.
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Highlights of Matt Fitzpatrick’s final round of The Players, where he narrowly missed out on victory after a closing bogey
Fitzpatrick found trees off the final tee and failed to get up and down after laying up on the closing par four, missing from eight feet, as Young found the back fringe in two and two-putted for a par to close out a second PGA Tour victory.
“To have now put my name on two different tournaments, and a big one like The Players, it’s incredibly special,” Young said. “I’m hoping that I can continue that throughout the season.”
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Watch the moment Cameron Young closed out victory with a kick-in par at the par-four last
Young never had the solo lead at any point in the tournament until he holed his eight-inch putt to post a four-under 68 and end the week on 13 under, one ahead of Fitzpatrick, while Åberg dropped another shot at the 15th and stumbled to a tied-fifth finish after a final-round 76.
“Obviously really disappointed,” Åberg said. “I felt like I was striking it okay early on. Got away with a few things, especially No 4, kind of left miss, but overall pleased with the week. Obviously today the back nine was not good, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
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Ludvig Åberg was upset after he threw away The Players lead on the back-nine of TPC Sawgrass
Åberg shared fifth place with Sudarshan Yellamaraju and Jacob Bridgeman, with Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Justin Thomas rounding off the top 10.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler ended eight strokes back in tied-22nd after a final-round 71, as defending champion Rory McIlroy finished in a share of 46th after ending the week on level par.
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Highlights of Rory McIlroy’s final round of The Players, where he shot a one-under 71 to end the week on level par
What’s next?
The PGA Tour stays in Florida for the Valspar Championship, held at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor. Early coverage begins on Thursday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 6pm.
There’s less than four weeks to go until the opening men’s major of the year, with McIlroy’s title defence at The Masters exclusively live from April 9-12 on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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