American Cameron Young clinched his second PGA Tour title and the biggest win of his career with a sensational one-shot victory at the Players Championship on Sunday after a drama-laden afternoon at TPC Sawgrass.
One stroke behind England's Matt Fitzpatrick with two holes to play, Young drew level with a birdie at the par-three 17th after hitting a brilliant tee shot to nine and a half feet and then safely parred the last to card a four-under-par 68.
That left him at 13-under in the PGA Tour's flagship event and one ahead of Fitzpatrick, who also closed with a 68 after his tee shot at the 18th wound up on pine straw in the treeline to the right of the fairway and led to a bogey five.
Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, who had led the tournament by three shots overnight, was two ahead with eight holes to play on Sunday before his title bid unraveled with a bogey at the par-five 11th and a double-bogey at the par-four 12th.
He had to settle for a share of fifth place at nine-under after returning a 76.
Two-time major champion Xander Schauffele closed with a 69 to claim third place at 11-under, a stroke in front of Scotland's world No 8 Robert MacIntyre, who also signed off with a 69.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler, the Players champion in 2023 and 2024, ended his week at TPC Sawgrass with a one-under 71 to finish in a tie for 22nd at five-under.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy (above), the world No 2, was left to reflect on "not the week that I wanted" after he signed off with a 71 and an even-par total, tied for 46th.
McIlroy withdrew from last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational after two rounds due to a back injury and he did not play a single practice round at TPC Sawgrass after only arriving at the venue on the eve of the tournament.
Meanwhile Seamus Power endured a tough finale. A four-over 76 saw the Waterford man slide to eight-over-par.
McIlroy said he was weighing up whether to play another tournament before his Masters defence next month.
"I'll see how my body feels," said the world number two.
"We’ll see how I feel in practice and at home and if I get itchy feet at home maybe add an event at some point.
"I feel like it was important to make the weekend here and play an extra couple of days. I’m happy I got through four days and my body feels good.
"I feel like my game sort of progressively got a little bit better as the week went on, even though the scores probably didn’t reflect it over the weekend.
"But yeah, really just see how the next week goes, see how once I get back to actually a full practice schedule and in the gym and stuff like that, see how my body reacts to that, and then I’ll see."
