What a difference a year (and win) makes
A year of Young since breakout Wyndham win; DD podcast; Euro RC path; Stray Shots
Cameron Young finally broke his duck at last year’s Wyndham Championship (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
While it wasn’t the beginning of Cameron Young’s rise to stardom, the Wyndham Championship and Sedgefield Country Club certainly provided a launching point last August for a career that had been mired in close calls and frustration.
Young’s victory a year ago in Greensboro, N.C. , set the then 28-year-old former Wake Forest golfer on an amazing path that saw him create one of the bright spots for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, win a Players Championship, play his way into final pairing with Rory McIlroy at the Masters and generally solidify himself as one of the best players in the world.
“I had kind of righted the ship in terms of my play before that week, but I think it really showed through winning the tournament — especially by six (shots),” Young said Tuesday in advance of this week’s Wyndham Championship. “Since then I’ve continued to play some good golf. Yeah, I’m happy to be back here. It’s a place that I’ve enjoyed playing and just ready to get the week on.”
Young, 29, had become known as a player with a bunch of close calls who didn’t make enough putts, having finished second seven times, including a runner-up to Cam Smith at the 2022 Open at St. Andrews.
There was more frustration a year ago when he got to Greensboro coming off a missed cut at the Open at Royal Portrush, where he fell to 44th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Look at him now at world No. 3.
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Stray Shots from last week’s Rocket Classic
After winning the 2025 Wyndham Championship, Young finished fifth at the FedEx St. Jude, tied for fourth at the Tour Championship, went 3-1 in his first Ryder Cup and kept it going into this year with strong signature performances at Riviera and Bay Hill before winning the Players Championship.
That propelled him to a strong Masters, where he tied for third after a final-round 73, just two shots back of McIlroy, who defended his title.
“It seems to certainly have been positive for me,” Young said of his breakthrough win a year ago that led to all of this. “I played really well that week and I think it was nice to see that when I do play well — I always believed I was capable of winning a tournament, but I hadn’t yet so it’s nice to be able to say I believe that I can win a PGA Tour event and also be able to look back and say I’ve done it before. I think it’s all positive for me having the win here and moving on to play some really nice golf.”
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Young captured his third tour title in the Cadillac Championship at Doral in early May, then went through a bit of a lull before another near miss at the Open last month, where he finished a shot back of winner Ryan Fox after posting a score that appeared for a time to possibly be good enough. Fox birdied the 18th to leave Young disheartened on the practice range where he was preparing for a playoff after a Sunday 64.
“It was a miracle in a sense that I had a chance really coming down Sunday,” Young said. “Like you wouldn’t have thought that the winning score was going to be backwards. So put together a great round and that’s a couple hours of being frustrated. After that, hey, I played some great golf, every bit good enough to win a major championship. You just kind of put your head down and go to the next week. I feel like I did.”
He came back with tie for eighth last week at the Rocket Classic and now is looking ahead to the FedEx Cup playoffs, where a couple of strong weeks could see him challenge world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
In the past year, Young’s won three times and posted 13 top-10 finishes. The expectations have only gotten higher.
Europe lays out its Ryder Cup path
While the U.S. team under captain Jim Furyk has yet to announce how it will determine its 2027 Ryder Cup squad, the Europeans on Tuesday put forth its system for qualifying to reach Adare Manor. And it understandably looks very similar to the one that was in place leading to the 2025 Ryder Cup victory at Bethpage Black.
Having won the last two competitions on his watch, European captain Luke Donald didn’t need to make many changes. The system is working.
