Introduction
Cameron Young (born May 7, 1997) is an American professional golfer. He has twice finished in the top three in major championships and has several other runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour. He has also won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour. He was voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2021–22 season.
Early life
Young was born in Scarborough, New York. He attended Fordham Preparatory School in The Bronx, where he was a member of the golf team. He would later attend Wake Forest University, where he studied Economics, graduating in 2019.
Amateur career
In 2014, Young won the AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic and was selected to represent the United States in both the Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Golf World Cup. In 2015, during his freshman year at Wake Forest, he won the individual title at the U.S. Collegiate Championship and the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational; he also reached the second round of the US Amateur, before being knocked out by Jon Rahm. That year, he also became the youngest winner of the Metropolitan Golf Association's Ike Stroke Play Championship. He successfully defended the title in 2016.
In 2017, Young became the first amateur to win the Metropolitan PGA's New York State Open, defeating Chris DeForest in a playoff; his 64 (7 under par) in the final round at Bethpage Black tied the course record, until Brooks Koepka shot a 63 in the first round of the 2019 PGA Championship. In 2018, he won the Westchester Open.
During his senior year at Wake Forest in 2019, Young won three tournaments, the General Hackler Invitational, the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational, and was the leading medallist in the Stitch Intercollegiate.
Professional career
Young Monday qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour's Pinnacle Bank Championship in late July 2020 and tied for 11th, giving him entry to the next event; a string of four finishes of 16th or better, culminating with a tie for second at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, earned him enough points to become a special temporary member for the rest of the 2020–21 season. Towards the end of May 2021, he won back-to-back tournaments. He finished the season 19th on the regular-season points list, earning a PGA Tour card for the 2021–22 season.
In February 2022, Young tied for second at the Genesis Invitational and rose into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. In May 2022, Young tied for third at the 2022 PGA Championship. In the 2022 Open Championship, he led the field after the first round with a bogey-free round of 64 (8 under par); in the final round, he eagled the last hole to finish one stroke behind the winner, Cameron Smith. In September 2022, he was selected for the U.S. team in the 2022 Presidents Cup; he won one, tied one and lost two of the four matches he played. With94% of the vote, he won the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year (Arnold Palmer Award).
In March 2023, Young changed caddies, employing Paul Tesori, who had most recently worked with Webb Simpson. In their first tournament together, Young was runner-up in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play; he was defeated 6 and 5 by Sam Burns in the final. The following month he finished in a tie for seventh at the Masters Tournament.
Media appearances
Young appeared in the sports documentary series Full Swing, which premiered on Netflix on February 15, 2023.
Amateur wins
- 2015 U.S. Collegiate Championship, Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational, MGA Ike Stroke Play Championship
- 2016 MGA Ike Stroke Play Championship
- 2019 General Hackler Invitational, Augusta Haskins Award Invitational, Stitch Intercollegiate (medallist)
Professional wins (4)
Korn Ferry Tour wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 23, 2021 | AdventHealth Championship | 64-69-68-68=269 | −19 | 2 strokes | Dawie van der Walt |
| 2 | May 30, 2021 | Evans Scholars Invitational | 64-68-67-67=266 | −18 | 5 strokes | Adam Svensson |
Other wins (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 20, 2017 | Lenox Advisors New York State Open (as an amateur) |
70-70-64=204 | −9 | Playoff | Chris DeForest |
| 2 | Jul 10, 2018 | Westchester Open (as an amateur) |
63-70-65=198 | −12 | 7 strokes | David Pastore |
Other playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017 | Lenox Advisors New York State Open (as an amateur) |
Chris DeForest | Won with birdie on second extra hole |
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T7 | |||
| PGA Championship | T3 | CUT | |||
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | CUT | T32 | |
| The Open Championship | NT | 2 | T8 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 2 (twice, current)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2022 Open Championship – 2023 Masters)
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | T51 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Match Play | T35 | 2 |
| Champions | NT |
Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Champions was discontinued from 2023.
U.S. national team appearances
Professional
- Presidents Cup: 2022 (winners)