Cameron Young paid no attention to the wreckage behind him on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
With the lead pairing of Ludvig Aberg and Michael Thorbjornsen combining to shoot 9 over, Young carded a near-flawless, 4-under 68 from the penultimate group to win the Players Championship by a shot.
“The stadium atmosphere out there is unbelievable,” Young said. "... The way everything is raised, you just know kind of 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.”
Young began the final round four shots back of Aberg, but he dropped only one shot, unable to get up and down at the par-4 sixth, and tallied five birdies, including a 10-footer at the par-3 17th hole that tied him with Matt Fitzpatrick for the lead. Young called the 130-yard shot into Stadium’s iconic green a “great number,” and he got a teach from Fitzpatrick before flighting his 57-degree wedge in there to set up what would prove the winning birdie.
“It was just a full-out, not as many nerves as a little touchy, feely one would have been,” Young said.
After Young hit a 375-yard drive on the par-4 18th, the longest on that hole in the ShotLink era and a mammoth poke that Young later agreed was shot-of-my-life material, Fitzpatrick missed his tee ball in the right trees and could only punch out to the fairway.
“Once you’re out of position, it’s difficult to make your par,” Fitzpatrick said.
With Young only facing a tap-in par, Fitzpatrick missed an 8-footer for his par, the bogey dropping him to 12 under, ultimately a shot back of Young’s 13 under after the two-shot swing.
Young admitted afterward that the hole looked like it’d shrunk before he hit his winning putt.
“I was really, really good until I had to make the 8-inch putt on the last hole, and I just about fell apart,” Young said. “I couldn’t get my line to point anywhere near the hole, and I went and hit it anyway, which maybe I shouldn’t have. But it went in, so all is well.”
Sunday figured to be a battle between Aberg and Thorbjornsen, two former PGA Tour University Nos. 1. But Thorbjornsen ejected early with a quadruple bogey that included a yanked wedge shot into the water from just 84 yards on the par-4 fourth. Thorbjornsen rinsed three shots total, including at No. 17, during a 5-over 77. Aberg was even par through 10 holes before hitting his second shot in the water at the par-5 11th and then pulling his tee ball into the lake left on the short par-4 12th hole. He played those two holes in a combined 3 over, eventually posting 76.
“It got away from me quick there,” Aberg said. “Yeah, it was just poor swings. I felt like I’ve had that sort of 7-wood right miss a few times this week, on No. 4 especially twice, and it came up on 11 as well. Then tried to press a little bit on 12, hitting driver, where sometimes you can play 3-wood a little short of that bunker.
“Yeah, obviously really disappointed. I would have loved to be standing where Cameron is standing right now.”
Aberg, who was trying for his third PGA Tour win, was the seventh player since The Players moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982 to lead by three or more strokes after 54 holes and the fourth of that group who failed to convert.
Young, who finally broke through for his maiden Tour title at last summer’s Wyndham Championship, has now backed up that victory.
“In some sense there’s a little bit of pressure off, but the same pressure that I have put on myself since I was a kid is still there,” Young said. “So, it’s more a battle against that than any pressure of not winning or not winning enough. But, yeah, I mean, to have now put my name on two different tournaments, and a big one like The Players, I mean, it’s incredibly special and I’m hoping that I can continue that throughout the season.”
So, what’s next? More wins? Perhaps major titles?
Young has but one simple goal: “To be prepared for to be playing late on Sunday at Augusta.”
“It’s not necessarily to win,” Young explained. “It’s not to do any certain number of things. It’s to be ready and comfortable when that moment comes.”