Aberg holds nerve while rivals falter to move three clear at Sawgrass, McIlroy 14 back

The Swede, who turned professional in June 2023 and has two Ryder Cups and three tournament victories to his name, improved his two-shot halfway lead by one after a round of 71 to get to 13 under.

Sat, 14 Mar, 2026 - 23:57

Carl Markham

Ludvig Aberg kept his composure as his rivals lost theirs at the Players Championship to edge a step closer to the biggest individual win of his short career.

The Swede, who turned professional in June 2023 and has two Ryder Cups and three tournament victories to his name, improved his two-shot halfway lead by one after a round of 71 to get to 13 under.

Two-time major champion Xander Schauffele dropped back after a 74, Cameron Young was within three until he double-bogeyed the last in the group ahead of Aberg and Justin Thomas and Corey Conners could only manage level-par rounds of 72 to close on eight under.

Aberg, who is local to Sawgrass, would have had a bigger advantage were it not for his second bogey of the day at the last hole, having missed a short birdie putt on 17 to open up what would have been a five-shot lead as Young was hitting it in the water down the last.

It left Michael Thorbjornsen as his nearest challenger after a 67 moved him to 10 under.

Aberg's Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick was left to rue "sloppy errors" which left him six shots back in a tie for fourth.

The Sheffield golfer had seven birdies in a round of 69 but the momentum of picking up strokes at 16 and 17 was lost with a double-bogey six at the last.

"You can't afford any mistakes. I've had four dropped shots which you can't really afford if you are trying to win the tournament," he told Sky Sports.

"Just sloppy errors, you need to cut those out if you are to have any chance of winning. At the end too many of them to put myself well and truly into the mix."

Rory McIlroy continued to struggle as his slim hopes of a title defence ended after a level-par 72.

Two of his three bogeys came after finding water off the ninth and 12th tees, the second cutting short his momentum after successive birdies threatened to kickstart his back nine to leave him one over.

Robert MacIntyre's superb seven-under round of 65 - his best at Sawgrass - had nine birdies, with a brilliant finish of three in succession from the 15th and concluding with a nerveless 10-foot par putt to get to seven under.

Spectators were delayed from entering the course in the morning "for operational considerations" after two people were shot and killed on Friday night less than a mile from the tournament's main parking area and the suspect entered PGA property where he encountered tournament employees during his attempted escape.