Cameron Young defeated Matt Fitzpatrick by one stroke to win the 2026 Players Championship. This is Young’s second career win, the first being the 2025 Wyndham Championship.
Ludvig Åberg was the 36-hole and 54-hole leader, and started the final round with a three- stroke lead ahead of Michael Thorbjornsen. Standing on the 11th tee during the final round, Åberg looked to be in control of the tournament with a two-stroke lead. But he found the water on back-to-back holes and lost his lead for the first time since the second round. He went on to bogey the 15th hole en route to a back-nine 40 (+4) to finish tied for fifth.
Fitzpatrick stepped up to take the lead, which he held all the way to the 17th green after making three birdies in a four-hole stretch. He was playing in the penultimate group with Young, and both players found the putting surface on the iconic 17th island green. Young made birdie to tie Fitzpatrick at 13-under, which meant he is the first Players Champion to birdie the 17th hole in each of the final three rounds.
Young’s drive on the 18th hole is the longest by any player in the ShotLink era (since 2023), at 375 yards. Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick found the pine straw on the right side of the fairway, which made all the difference. Fitzpatrick missed a par putt while Young made par to secure the biggest win of his career.
When asked in his post-round press conference about his emotions on the pivotal 17th hole, Young said, “The stadium atmosphere out there is unbelievable. It’s so loud on 17. The way everything is raised, you just know all eyes are right there on you. So there’s nowhere to hide, 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”.
This is Young’s third consecutive top-10 finish of the 2026 season (T7 at the Genesis Invitational & T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational). His four-stroke comeback is the fifth-largest final round comeback at The Players Championship. This win earns Young a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and three-year exemptions into all four major championships.
Fitzpatrick’s runner-up finish matches the best finish by a player from England at The Players Championship. Xander Schauffele finished third at 11-under and Robert MacIntyre finished fourth at 10-under.
The last event in the Florida portion of the PGA Tour schedule is next week at the Valspar Championship. Viktor Hovland won the 2025 Valspar Championship and will look to defend his title against a field that includes Aaron Rai, Marco Penge and Robert MacIntyre.
