Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have held the Players Championship for the past three years. The PGA Tour’s premier event hasn’t had a “winner” since Cameron Smith’s victory in 2022 catapulted him to the world stage and set the stage for his Open Championship win later that summer.
But the 2026 edition was set to have a different kind of winner after three years of the world’s best players lifting the trophy – no matter how it ended.
26-year-old Ludvig Åberg entered Sunday at TPC Sawgrass with a three-shot lead over 24-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen. Åberg captured the Players Championship title with a 9-under 63 on Friday, and backed that up with a 71 on Saturday to put himself on course for the biggest win of his young career.
“I think about winning a lot,” Åberg said on Saturday, “I think a lot about what it’s going to look like, how it’s going to feel. I think a lot about the different situations that could happen, and I did that in college, when I turned pro, and I still do. I think I try to accept it. I try to be fair with all those things that come with it, a lot of time playing golf, that makes us play golf. training, preparation, why wouldn’t we think about what it would actually mean to win, naturally that’s what I’m going to do at night But am I not thinking about that tomorrow?
Åberg won last year’s Genesis Invitational, but a win at the Players would have been a “Hello world!” the victory we expected from the swede who skates well.
It would be Thorbjornsen’s first win on the PGA Tour, and he would be the first player since Tim Clark in 2010 to earn his first victory at the Players.
But it wasn’t to be for Åberg or Thorbjornsen.
Thorbjornsen faded at the start of the ninth, but Åberg continued to lead until the par-5 11th hole. Åberg split the fairway with his drive, but then lost his way and shot into the lake and made bogey. A double bogey on the par-5 12th followed, and Åberg faded from the tournament spotlight.
But while Åberg and Thorbjornsen struggled to keep the train on track at TPC Sawgrass, Cameron Young and Matthew Fitzpatrick dominated the tournament. Fitzpatrick grabbed the lead after Åberg’s double in the 12th. Young eventually birdied the famous 17th hole.
They went into the 72nd hole tied at 13 under.
Young blasted a drive 375 yards down the middle of the fairway and hit his approach to 14 feet. Fitzpatrick lost his drive to the 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 into the hole, Fitzpatrick had a chance to send the Players into the playoff. But his par putt just missed, and Young holed out in the closing stages to seal the biggest win of his career.
Young’s win comes with a $4.5 million winner’s check. The player purse is $25 million.
How much money every player has made in the 2026 Players Championship
WIN. 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
T8. Tommy Fleetwood, $731,250
Sepp Straka, $731,250
Justin Thomas, $731,250
T11. Patrick Rodgers $606,250
Brian Harman, $606,250
T13. Viktor 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
T27. Hideki 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
Mr 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
Matt Schmidt, $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 Fisk, $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 Finau, $50,750
Seamus Power, $50,750
Ricky Castillo, $50,750
73. Takumi Kanaya, $49,750
“>
