To say that Cameron Young’s first win on the PGA Tour had been a long time coming would probably be an understatement.
Cameron Young has finally opened his account on the PGA Tour after winning the Wyndham Championship on Sunday. The 28-year-old finished six shots clear at Sedgefield to move himself inside the top 20 in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the playoffs.
Young made history as the 1000th different winner on the PGA Tour. However, many will feel that Young should have added his name to that list a long time ago. He has only been a regular in the majors since 2022, and yet, he has already registered a top seven finish at all four of the biggest events of the year.
Getting across the line had been a problem for Young. While he had rarely put himself in genuine contention, there were plenty of times when he failed to capitalise on a promising opportunity. Young was definitely in the conversation when it came to the best player on tour currently without a victory.
But perhaps putting all of his attributes together at the same time was the big problem for Young.
Smylie Kaufman admits being baffled by Cameron Young’s PGA Tour career so far
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman admitted that he was baffled by Young’s career to date after looking into the data since he arrived on the PGA Tour. It seems that just as one part of his game became a strength, another part would drop off.
“I had to chart this out, but I was that confused trying to figure out why Cameron Young isn’t as good as he should be, because we’ve seen all the flashes. At some point of his career, he’s been elite at something. He’s been elite at putting this year. He’s been an elite iron player. He’s been an elite driver of the golf ball,” he said.
“Very good putting this year. He was average in his rookie year, so the year in which he comes onto the scene and is contending a bunch, comes second at The Open Championship, he was an average putter that year. He was a very bad putter the last couple of years. He was 145th and 154th.
“It’s crazy. Every year, he’s good, average or bad at something. That’s the wild thing about this.
“His first year on tour, he was an elite wedge player. He was seventh inside of 100 yards. And the last two years, so 2023 and 2024, he was a super average wedge player, right around 125th. This year, 172nd inside of 100 yards. You saw a little bit of this come out on Sunday where his wedge game all of a sudden, you were like what are these shots he’s hitting? He’s chunking his wedges, was struggling hitting it pin high. Granted, he has a nine shot lead so let’s not judge the guy. But you’re starting to wonder maybe this is some of the things he’s been kind of dealing with this year.
“Let’s move on to approach play. 2023, an elite, elite iron player from 125 to 200 yards basically. So you can take that 125-150, 150-175, 175-200, he’s basically in the top 10 in every single one of those stats and that’s basically his second year on tour.
“So he goes from being a very good player driver of the ball his rookie year, and then a very good approach player his second year. Even in 2022, he was average. Even last year, his iron game was solid. But this year, his iron game has been so bad.”
Cameron Young’s Ryder Cup hopes assessed after winning the Wyndham Championship
It is impossible not to think about Young’s Ryder Cup chances following his victory at the Wyndham Championship. Momentum is so important at this stage of the season, particularly with Bethpage rapidly emerging on the horizon.
Interestingly, Kaufman sounded like he was on the fence when it came to the idea of Young making Keegan Bradley‘s team. But he did suggest that the door should be open ahead of the playoffs.
“It’s so easy to say sometimes: should Cam Young be on the Ryder Cup team? And I’m here to tell you that his iron play has been really, really tough this year. His first 14 events, to the field average in 11 of those events, he lost strokes,” he added.
“So when we think about Cameron Young, we’re like okay, so he’s not ironing it good, he’s 156th in that 175 to 200 category. So when I start to think about Bethpage Black, I probably could see a lot of shots from that 175 to 200 range. But then I look at the Wyndham Championship this week, what did he do really well this week? Par three play, he was so good. And guess how many shots are in that 175 to 200 range: a ton. There’s obviously some good that came from this week.”
The playoffs provide a fantastic chance for those on the outside looking in. Bradley is going to be watching the next three weeks incredibly closely.
Young has absolutely put himself in the conversation. But clearly, many think that there is plenty more work to be done before he secures a Ryder Cup debut in September.
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