PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. â Cameron Young stared down the best on the Stadium Course and let everyone else come to him.
It worked.
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Young birdied the 17th and tapped in for par at 18 to win The Players Championship by a stroke on Sunday afternoon at TPC Sawgrass. It capped a wild week in Ponte Vedra Beach that started with driving rains on Thursday and a shooting in the parking lot at a nearby Walgreens that delayed the gates opening on Friday. The bad weather that was forecast for the final round stayed away and a sell-out crowd -- the first for a Saturday and Sunday weekend in tournament history -- witnessed Youngâs exclamation point of a comeback.
He was the outright leader for just one hole, the 72nd and final one -- the only one that mattered.
It took patience and an occasional birdie opportunity to deliver Young the biggest win of his career and $4.5 million paycheck that goes along with it. He rallied from four back to start the day to finish at 13 under after a beautiful 4-under 68. Young had just one bogey in the final round and surged up the leaderboard as his competitors sank. That included his playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick, who bogeyed two of the last five holes, including the 18th, to finish runner-up.
It was the second win of Youngâs career, and unquestionably bigger than his first, the Wyndham Championship last year.
Third-round leader Ludvig Aberg (4-over 76) and Michael Thorbjornsen (5-over 77), both Jacksonville residents who were paired together in the final group, were out of contention early on the back nine.
Youngâs consistency was key
It was the opposite for Young. He was flawless on the back nine against the challenging Sunday pins and the tension of the Stadium Course, birdieing three holes and saving par the rest as the other challengers faltered.
That included playing partner Fitzpatrick, who led him by two shots when they made the turn.
Young wasnât flashy until he needed to be.
He gained all he needed over the final two holes, sticking his tee shot on the heartbreaking No. 17 just 9 feet from the cup and draining his putt to move into a tie with Fitzpatrick. He was safe off the tee on No. 18, a 375-yard bomb drive dead-center of the fairway and an approach that stopped on the backside edge of the green.
His birdie putt was a touch wide right, but that didnât matter.
Fitzpatrickâs drive on 18 landed in the pine straw and he had to punch out. He was on the green with a chance to save par, but his 9-foot putt in what would have sent the tournament into a playoff, went wide right.
Fitzpatrick started the round five strokes back and was sensational early to climb the leaderboard as other golfers ahead of him struggled.
He birdied three of his first four holes and snatched the outright lead after 4-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th. Fitzpatrick then stayed in front of a cluster of golfers who were within range of his lead, fending them off with a birdie spree.
Fitzpatrickâs surge over holes 12 and 13 capped a three-stroke gain on third-round leader Aberg over just two holes.
Fitzpatrickâs first bogey of the day on the par-4 14th dropped him to 12 under and into a tie with playing Young, but he drained a 13-foot putt for birdie on the following hole to go back in front.
Young ran into trouble on the par-5 16th with an approach that found the bunker. But he scrambled to save par and then went right at the flag on 17, hitting a full-swing sand wedge to within 9 feet. Young said he felt like he had the perfect number dialed in on his tee shot at 17. One day after he finished his round with a double-bogey on 18, Young was locked in for every shot. He said the most nerves he had Sunday was his final putt, a tap-in of less than a foot.
Rough day for Jacksonville duo
Aberg was trying become just the fourth golfer over the past 16 years to hold a 54-hole lead outright and go on to win The Players.
Instead, he spent most of the round hanging on to a lead that grew smaller by the minute.
Aberg blasted out of the greenside rough on No. 2 to within 19 inches of the cup for one of his best shots of the final round, then scrambled for most of front nine to save par. But things slipped away from there.
Aberg was forced to take a drop after his second shot on the par-5 11th went into the water. He pulled his 16-foot par putt just left of the hole and had to settle for bogey.
Aberg shanked his drive on No. 12 into the water and settled for double-bogey to fall out of the lead for the first time since the eighth hole in Fridayâs second round. He finished T-5 at 9-under. Thorbjornsen finished the tournament T-22 at 5-under.
Over the last 16 years, the outright leader after 54 holes only managed to win it three times. (Jason Day in 2016, Webb Simpson in 2018 and Scottie Scheffler in 2023).
Big names have up-and-down showing
The heavyweights of golf never really got going. Collin Morikawa withdrew with a back injury after taking a practice swing on his first hole Thursday.
Reigning champion Rory McIlroy got to TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday afternoon and never really felt like he got his putter working. McIlroy withdrew in the third round from last weekâs Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill with back spasms, and said he felt ârustyâ in his return to the course. He shot a final-round 1-under 71 and finished even for the week.
Another two-time Players champion, Scheffler, never found himself in contention. Scheffler flirted with missing the cut on Friday before making up ground with a beautiful 5-under 67 on Saturday. He finished 5 under for the tournament and never threatened.
Xander Schauffele was the most recognizable name on the leaderboard. He birdied four of his last seven holes for a 3-under 69 that got him to 11 under.