It’s hard to ignore the tension of a leaderboard topped by a player who’s done almost everything but win a title on the Tour. For Cameron Young, heading into the final round of the Wyndham Championship is exactly that.
Young, who turned pro in 2019, has racked up seven runner-up finishes and 22 top-10s in his 94 career starts, more than any other active player without a win since 1983.
But this week at Sedgefield Country Club, he’s rewriting the narrative.
After a bogey-free 8-under 62 in Round 2 on Saturday morning, the 28-year-old pro returned to fire a 5-under 65 in Round 3. It gave him a total of 20-under 190, making a new 54-hole tournament scoring record.
What made his Saturday round at Sedgefield Country Club more amusing was the birdie surge. Young swung a total of six birdies, with a dazzling stretch of four straight on holes 3 through 6.
When asked if he was chasing the win to finally “get the monkey off his back,” Young offered a mature pivot.
“If you had asked me two years ago, I’d probably say yes,” Young told reporters on Saturday. “I finished second a bunch, I’ve gotten beat a lot. I’ve played some good golf on Sunday in really all those cases. So that’s all I’m trying to do tomorrow (Sunday). I’m starting in a nice spot, so I’m just looking to try to beat second place by as many as I can. That’s been my mindset from the first tee on Thursday, and that’s what I’m going to try to do tomorrow (Sunday).”
Young has often spoken about the Ryder Cup, and during the Saturday media conference, he made his bigger goal even more clear.
“It hurt pretty bad to miss it a couple years ago,” Young admitted on Day 3. “I was ninth on the points list and didn’t get picked, so I was a bit frustrated with that.”
The New York native missed the team in 2023, finishing ninth in the points list and getting snubbed by then-captain Zach Johnson.
He continued, “Set out the year to give our captain no choice, and I don’t know if I’m in a position to do that or not, but it would take some really good golf between now and then. But if I’m in the question, that’s been a big goal of mine and I’d love to put myself there anyway.”
Currently ranked No. 19 in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, Young needs a strong finish at Wyndham and a deep playoff run to crack the top six automatic qualifiers before the BMW Championship on August 17.
A win this week could push him as high as No. 15, keeping him in contention for a captain’s pick by Keegan Bradley.
Additionally, this year’s venue, Bethpage Black, makes Young more passionate than ever. “I think that that location is, first of all, one of my favorite golf courses in the world,” he told reporters, as quoted.
“I have a lot of good memories there playing the New York State Open, and I’m sure a New York crowd would be, I at least hope, on my side to some extent. So yeah, that’s been a goal this whole year.”
The PGA Tour pro teed off his Sunday round at 1:55 p.m. ET, alongside Echavarria, who was five strokes behind Young until Round 3.
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