Rex Hoggard has said that he found what Cameron Young did during the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic amazing, as he suggested the one reason the American is still awaiting his first win on the PGA Tour.
Cameron Young went into Sunday at Detroit Golf Club with a real chance of securing his maiden win on the PGA Tour, with the 27-year-old one shot off the lead held by Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai.
Young made the turn at one under par for the day, but the tournament appeared to unravel from there, with the 2022 Open Championship runner-up snapping his driver at one stage as frustration appeared to get the better of him.
Young would ultimately bogey two of the final three holes to end the day at one over par, three shots behind Cameron Davis, who secured his second Rocket Mortgage Classic title.
Why Cameron Young is still yet to win on the PGA Tour
It is almost remarkable that Young has not yet won on the PGA Tour, particularly as he has already finished in the top 10 at the majors on five occasions. He has, so far, only appeared in 13 majors.
But Sunday perhaps showed what is stopping Young from taking that next step, with Rex Hoggard telling the Golf Channel Podcast that everything else is in place for the New Yorker to win on a consistent basis.
“He was aggravated, I know, he snapped his driver, so that probably aggravated him, he made a bunch of mental errors, that probably aggravated him, but if I just had to go out on a limb and tell you, okay, of all the things this robot can do with the golf ball, and statistically he’s amazing with what he can do with the golf ball, he’s one of the best ball strikers in the game at the moment; if you had to ask me, why hasn’t he won on the PGA Tour and why do we continue to have these conversations about him, it has to be his attitude,” he said.
“I think the crew on the CBS call pointed out that this is probably working against him at this point. You made the mistake, and what the top players will do is they’ll leave it behind and they’ll move on and they’ll find a way to overcome and adapt and either win or not.
“In this particular case, it looked like he was done when he snapped his driver, you could tell mentally, he was not going to have a chance. And that to me, is amazing for a player at that level.”
Mental hurdle may only be getting bigger
Of course, the longer Young goes without winning, the larger the hurdle will seemingly become. Everyone saw how Rory McIlroy threw away a golden opportunity to end his wait to win a major title at the US Open, and he must now be wondering whether he is ever going to win that fifth major.
Young – who recently shot 59 at the Travelers Championship – may perhaps be feeling a similar level of pressure where he cannot successfully put his foot on the accelerator on Sunday at events when the chance is there.
If everything clicks for Young, he is going to be one of the players who defines the next decade. But after the Rocket Mortgage Classic, it feels like a big if.
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