Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have dominated the Players Championship for the past three years. The PGA Tour’s main event hasn’t had a “breakthrough” winner since Cameron Smith’s 2022 victory propelled him up the world rankings and set the stage for his Open Championship victory later that summer.
But the 2026 edition was designed to have a different kind of winner after three years since the world’s best lifted the trophy – regardless of how it ended.
Twenty six years old Ludvig Åberg entered on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass with a three-shot lead over 24-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen. Åberg grabbed the Players Championship lead with a 9-under 63 on Friday, and he backed it up with a 71 on Saturday to put himself on the cusp of the biggest win of his young career.
“I think about winning a lot,” Åberg said Saturday, “I think a lot about what it would look like, what it would feel like. I think a lot about the different scenarios that could happen, and I did that in college, when I turned pro, and I still do. I think I’m trying to embrace it. I’m trying to be okay with all that stuff. Training, playing, preparing, so why not think about what it means to win really, that’s what i’m going to do tonight?
Åberg won the Genesis Invitational last year, but a win at the Players would be the kind of “Hello world!” the victory we expected from the quiet Swede.
It would be Thorbjornsen’s first win on the PGA Tour and would be the first player since Tim Clark in 2010 to win in his first career The Players.
But it was not to be for Åberg or Thorbjornsen.
Thorbjornsen faded early on the front nine, but Åberg maintained his lead until the par-5 11th hole. Åberg shared the fairway with his drive, but then missed his approach shot straight into the pond and made a bogey. A double bogey on the par-5 12th followed, and Åberg faded from the tournament spotlight.
But while Åberg and Thorbjornsen were trying to keep the train on track at TPC Sawgrass, Cameron Young and Matthew Fitzpatrick took control of the tournament. Fitzpatrick grabbed the lead after Åberg’s double on 12. Young finally tied it with a birdie on the famous 17th hole.
They went into the 72nd hole all tied at 13 under.
Young swept a drive 375 yards down the center of the fairway and hit his approach to 14 feet. Fitzpatrick missed his drive left and had to play to the front of the green. His chip up left him eight feet for par. When Young’s birdie attempt slipped from the hole, Fitzpatrick had a chance to send the Players into a playoff. But his par putt just missed and Young chipped in for a final layup to seal the biggest win of his career.
Young’s win comes with a $4.5 million winner’s check. The purse for the players is $25 million.
How much each player won in the 2026 Players Championship
WIN IT. Cameron Young, $4,500,000
2. Matthew Fitzpatrick, $2,725,000
3. Xander Schauffele, $1,725,000
4. Robert MacIntyre, $1,225,000
T5. Ludvig Åberg, $925,000
Jacob Bridgeman, $925,000
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $925,000
P8. Tommy Fleetwood, $731,250
Sepp Straka, $731,250
Justin Thomas, $731,250
T11. Patrick Rodgers $606,250
Brian Harman, $606,250
T13. Victor Hovland, $409,027
Brooks Koepka, $409,027
Sam Burns, $409,027
Akshay Bhatia, $409,027
Ryo Hisatsune, $409,027
Justin Rose, $409,027
Russell Henley, $409,027
Austin Smotherman, $409,027
Corey Conners, $409,027
T22. Scottie Scheffler, $271,250
Michael Thorbjornsen, $271,250
T24. William Mouw, $221,250
JJ Spaun, $221,250
Alex Smalley, $221,250
T27Hideki Matsuyama, $178,750
Chris Kirk, $178,750
Nicolai Hojgaard, $178,750
Ryan Gerard, $178,750
Chad Ramey, $178,750
T32. Jordan Spieth, $128,350
Eric Cole, $128,350
Bud Cauley, $128,350
Patrick Cantlay, $128,350
Alex Noren, $128,350
Andrew Putnam, $128,350
Max Homa, $128,350
Min Woo Lee, $128,350
Maverick McNealy, $128,350
Sahith Theegala, $128,350
T42. Rickie Fowler, $91,250
Wyndham Clark, $91,250
Nick Taylor, $91,250
Joe Highsmith, $91,250
T46. Rory McIlroy, $72,125
Taylor Pendrith, $72,125
Keith Mitchell, $72,125
Matti Schmid, $72,125
T50. Si Woo Kim, $61,083
Keegan Bradley, $61,083
JT Poston, $61,083
Taylor Moore, $61,083
Max McGreevy, $61,083
Zach Bauchoi, $61,083
T56. Adam Scott, $58,000
Chris Gotterup, $58,000
58. Sam Stevens, $57,250
T59. Jason Day, $56,250
Kevin Roy, $56,250
Lee Hodges, $56,250
T62. Danny Walker, $54,500
Steven Fish, $54,500
Rico Hoey, $54,500
Stephan Jaeger, $54,500
T66. Daniel Berger, $52,750
Nico Echavarria, $52,750
Christopher Reitan, $52,750
69. Michael Brennan, $51,750
T70. Tony Debate, $50,750
Seamus Power, $50,750
Ricky Castillo, $50,750
73. Takumi Kanaya, $49,750
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