U.S. golfer, Cameron Young could have the pedigree to win a major in his first year on the PGA Tour. Having failed to miss the cut in his major debut at The Masters, the 25-year-old from New York has finished in the top three of both tournaments since. At 65-1, he’s an excellent outside bet to go one better at Southern Hills.
Young, who now resides with his wife and young child in Florida, certainly has the game to challenge the likes of Scottie Scheffler, John Rahm, Patrick Cantlay et. al. when the action gets underway on Thursday.
Southern Hills is not the longest course on tour at 7,365 yards but it does demand length and accuracy off the tee. Whilst Young is in the top 10 for distance off the tee with an average of 315.7 yards, he is low down in the accuracy ranking with only 60% of fairways found. This could prove to be the Achilles heel for the young American as so many holes at Southern Hills bring the winding creeks into play for the longer hitters.
However, Young has adapted well to life among the elite and his tied-second place finish in the Wells-Fargo was a sure sign of things to come, coming off the back of an impressive tied-third in the RBC Heritage. In eight rounds, Young has signed for five rounds in the sixties and he should not be discounted in this one.
Like all top players, Young can scramble with the best of them and his putting stats stack up. From 200+ yards out, he is among the very best.
In 2017, on the infamous Bethpage Black course, Young became the first amateur to win the New York State Open, foregoing a sizeable winner’s cheque to remain an amateur.
Cameron Young tees off at 8.44 in Group 10. His playing partners will be Sam Burns and Davis Riley (both U.S.).
