Cam Young wins THE PLAYERS Championship on the back of the best shot of his life

Cam Young is the champion at TPC Sawgrass after one of the more dramatic final rounds THE PLAYERS has produced in years.

Young hit the shot of his career on the Island Green at 17, a tee shot that found the ridge and rolled out to 10 feet in the wind. He made the birdie.

Matt Fitzpatrick, who had seized control of the tournament after Ludvig Åberg’s catastrophic back nine collapse, missed an 8-foot par putt on 18 to hand Young the title.

Cam Young with a birdie on No. 17

Conquering the 17th!

Cameron Young’s birdie ties him for the lead heading to the final hole.

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— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 15, 2026

Young then absolutely airmailed the 18th, striping a 375-yard drive, the longest ever recorded on that hole at TPC Sawgrass, leaving himself 98 yards in.

He pitched to the fringe, chipped to tap-in range, and made the easiest par of his life while Fitzpatrick found the pine straw off the tee, pitched out short of the green, chipped to 8 feet, and missed.

Cam Young goes NUCLEAR on the 18th

CRUSHED! 375 yards down the fairway.

Cameron Young sets the tone down No. 18 with the longest drive of the day by nearly 20 yards.

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— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 15, 2026

It was only his second PGA Tour victory. He had been one of the best players in the world without the results to match, tying the Tour record with seven runner-up finishes before finally breaking through at the Wyndham Championship last summer.

But this is THE PLAYERS. The fifth major. The crown jewel. There is no bigger stage in non-major golf and Cam Young handled it like someone who had been there before.

The reason he had that composure was Bethpage Black. Cam Young was the best American player at the Ryder Cup last fall, winning his leadoff match during a furious US rally that ultimately fell short. He drew from that experience all afternoon Sunday. “Definitely some nerves, but also some confidence,” he said.

Fitzpatrick finished second at 12 under, shooting 68. He played well enough to win on any other Sunday. He just ran into a guy who was dialed in at the exact right moment.

Xander Schauffele closed birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie to finish third at 11 under with a 69. Robert MacIntyre was fourth, one behind Schauffele, after watching a chip from deep rough on 16 roll across the entire green and into the water.

Sepp Straka had two double bogeys over the final five holes including one on 18 where his shot out of the woods bounced off a cormorant sitting on the wood-framed edge of the hazard. Not a misprint.

And then there was Åberg.

The Swede entered the final round with a three-shot lead and was still two ahead standing in the middle of the fairway on the par-5 11th. He flared his approach into the water for bogey.

On the very next tee he pulled his tee shot into the water, hit over the green, and made double bogey. Three shots gone in two holes. He shot 40 on the back nine and finished tied for fifth. “It definitely stings a little bit,” Åberg said afterward. That might be the understatement of the week.

Cam Young is 28 years old, from New York, and just won the biggest event in golf outside of the four majors. The best shot of his life on the most famous par-3 in the world when it mattered most. That one will be on highlight reels for a long time.

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