Cameron Young clinched the biggest victory of his PGA TOUR career edging England’s Matt Fitzpatrick to snatch THE PLAYERS Championship title in what was a gripping contest at TPC Sawgrass.
The 28-year-old American entered the final round of the PGA TOUR’s flagship event four shots off the lead held by Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg who looked to resist the chasing pack which also consisted of the likes of American trio Michael Thorbjornsen, Xander Schauffele, and Justin Thomas. But Thorbjornsen chances fizzled out relatively quickly after a disastrous quadruple bogey at the 4th saw him tumble down the leaderboard. Aberg continued his steady progress along the front nine with a stretch of pars to lead by two reaching the turn.
However, the Swede faltered during the early stages of the back nine after he found water at both the 11th and 12th causing him to bogey the former and double-bogey the latter, paving the way for the chasing pack to capitalize. Fitzpatrick, who was seeking to become the first Englishman to win the tournament, did exactly that with back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th to claim the lead. Young ensured he remained in touching distance of the Englishman after he also birdied the 13th but then found himself level after Fitzpatrick bogeyed the 14th.
Fitzpatrick then looked to put his foot on the accelerator to make up for the dropped shot at the 14th with a sublime 15-foot birdie at the 15th. However, the pendulum then swung into Young’s favor rolling in a 10-foot birdie Pitt at the notorious 17th where Fitzpatrick had to settle for par as the duo walked to the last sharing the lead.
With pressure mounting, it was the American who managed to keep his cool with a monster 375-yard tee shot that helped him on his way before Fitzpatrick failed to overcome his nerves as his tee shot missed the fairway and found the trees. Fortunes did not seem to be in Fitzpatrick’s favor at the vital stage as he agonisingly missed his par putt while Young comfortably two-putted for par to card a 4-under 68 and finish on 13 under, sealing a momentous victory for the American.
It is Young’s second triumph on the PGA TOUR following his Wyndham Championship win in August last year and means he collects the huge $4.5m winners prize. He has also now climbed up to no. 4 on the Official World Golf Rankings, the highest rankings of his career so far.
“The nerves kicked in over the eight-inch putt on the last, the hole looked really small,” Young said following his victory.
“You just know all eyes are right there on you. 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.”
On his form since his first win,, Young added: “There is a bit of pressure off when winning for the first time, but the pressure I’ve put on myself since I was young is still there.
“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.”
It was late agony for Fitzpatrick but he affirmed it was a “decent week”.
“It’s a sore one right now,” he said. “On 17 and 18 we played aggressive but smart. That was the caddie’s words. I was wanting to go straight at that pin on 17, just throw the dice at it.
“But I wouldn’t have wanted to walk off there with a bogey on 16, a double on 17, and then probably a bogey on 18 with my head off.”
It’s a similar story for Aberg who expressed his disappointment over his back nine display.
“The back nine was not good, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Aberg said. “It got away from me quickly. It was just poor swings. I tried to press a little bit on 12, hitting driver, but it was a really poor swing, and it stings a bit.”
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who was an injury doubt ahead of the event following a back injury, struggled throughout finishing in a tie for 46th. World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler was also unable to compete near the top of the leaderboard as he had to settle joint 22nd.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Valspar Championship taking place between 19-22 March at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Florida.