Heading into the final round of the 2026 Players Championship, Ludvig Aberg seemed like a shoo-in to win the PGA Tour’s flagship tournament and the $4.5 million prize that comes with it. The talented Swede was three shots clear of the rest of the field before he teed off on Sunday, but a final-round 76 dropped him to a tie for fifth in the end.
Not only did Aberg’s Sunday collapse cost him a chance to score the biggest win of his PGA Tour career—it also cost him a massive chunk of change. By choking away the Players Championship on Sunday, Aberg also cost himself more than $3.5 million.
Ludvig Aberg Choked Away the Players Championship
Ludvig Aberg after 12 holes: 3 shots back
Aberg played beautifully in the first three rounds of the Players Championship to build a three-shot lead heading into Sunday. He did exactly what he needed to do on the front nine in the final round, going out in even-par 36 to maintain a two-shot cushion.
After a par on the 10th hole, Aberg imploded. Sitting in the middle of the fairway on the par-5 11th hole, the 26-year-old flared his approach shot into the water on the right side of the green. He was unable to get up and down and finished with a disappointing bogey. On the very next hole, he pulled his drive way left into the water, leading to a catastrophic double bogey on the driveable par-4 12th.
In the span of just 20 minutes, Aberg’s two-shot lead morphed into a three-shot deficit.
Aberg was unable to bounce back from his disastrous start to his back nine, finishing the final six holes in 1-over par to shoot a 4-over 40 coming home. He finished the day with a 4-over 76 to drop from the solo lead to a tie for fifth place alongside two other players. Meanwhile, Cameron Young fired a 4-under 68 to take the Players Championship title and the $4.5 million prize.
Despite the meltdown, Aberg still found a way to highlight the positives from his week at TPC Sawgrass.
“Obviously, really disappointed,” Aberg told reporters after the final round, per Yahoo Sports. “I felt like I was striking it okay early on. Overall, pleased with the week. Obviously, today the back nine was not good, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. I would have loved to be standing where Cameron is standing right now. But overall, I still felt like I saw some nice things in my game this week.”
Aberg’s Sunday Collapse Cost Him $3.5 Million
GettyLudvig Aberg lost more than just the Players Championship trophy on Sunday.
Blowing a golden opportunity to win the Players Championship will haunt Aberg for years to come, but it’s not the only loss he suffered at TPC Sawgrass. If the World No. 17 had shot at least 1-under par, something he did in each of the first three rounds, he would’ve cashed a $4.5 million paycheck.
By falling back to a tie for fifth place, Aberg walked away from TPC Sawgrass with $925,000. That’s still a fine payday for four days of work, but Aberg’s Sunday meltdown cost him $3,575,000.
It’s not the end of the world for Aberg, who’s already won more than $23 million in on-course earnings on the PGA Tour, but that’s still a life-changing amount to watch vanish in just about two hours.
Ludvig Aberg’s Sunday Collapse Cost Him $3.5 Million