Nate Tramdaks, Staff Writer

The PGA Tour’s flagship event, yet again, spared no drama come Sunday. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler came back from five down on Sunday to win. In 2025, Rory McIlroy won after being four back heading into Sunday. Now, in 2026, Cam Young completes a four shot comeback to claim his second win in his past 11 starts, and this is far and away the biggest moment of his career. The weekend was shaping up to be Ludvig Åberg’s break-out win, as he came into Sunday 13-under, a three shot lead over the field. The young Swede faded under pressure and fired a plus-four (40) on the back-nine. The final pairing of Åberg and Michael Thorbjorsen did not bring their best stuff, and the battle for the championship came down to the pairing ahead of them: Matthew Fitzpatrick and Cam Young. 

Åberg’s play late in tournaments is starting to become worrisome. At the 2025 Masters, Åberg had a commanding hold on second and was within striking distance of the lead for all of Sunday. He ended up limping in with a bogey and double on 17 and 18 to finish seventh. Then, at the 2025 Scottish Open, Åberg blew up after holding a 54-hole lead and finished ninth. Now most recently, he gave away a three-stroke lead at Sawgrass. In fairness, a three-stroke lead is not insurmountable, especially for a course like Sawgrass, but it was evident from the jump Åberg did not have it. He avoided disaster on the fifth hole and saved bogey, shooting even par on the front, but it all started to unravel as he made the turn. He found the water on 11 and 12, making bogey and double. At Sawgrass, you are required to hit fairways, and Åberg has such a quick swing that when things start to spiral there is no stopping it. From that point on he faded out of contention and finished a T5. 

Moving to the group ahead, Young and Fitzpatrick brought their best stuff. Fitzpatrick started off three under through four and was striking the ball incredibly well all day. Young was hanging tough all day, going one under on the front, still remaining within reach of Fitzpatrick. They both opened up the back by making two birdies in the first four holes, but Fitz almost gave an inch on bogey 14. He got that stroke right back with a birdie on 15. Heading into the final two holes, Fitzpatrick held a one-stroke lead over Young. 17 at Sawgrass is one of the biggest tests of nerves, especially when holding a tight lead. On the 134-yard par-three island green, Young stuck it 21 inches and sunk a knee-shaking birdie putt to tie as Fitzpatrick would make par. 18 is a 470-yard par-four with water up the entire left side. With the two tied for first, Cam Young hit a 375-yard bomb, the longest drive on that hole in the stat-tracking era. Fitzpatrick, feeling the pressure, hit his ball in the pin straw on the right side of the fairway. He was forced to punch out, and was laying short of the green. Young hit his approach shot to 14 feet just off the green. He missed his birdie putt and left himself 16 inches for par. Fitzpatrick had a makeable nine footer to save par, but missed. Young tapped in his par putt to finish his run down of Fitzpatrick and win the Players.