CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA | With one swing early Thursday afternoon, Cameron Young made himself comfortable at the Presidents Cup.
The par-4 first hole at Quail Hollow Club is a 479-yard dogleg right with three bunkers in the left corner of the fairway before it tumbles down a hill. The right side is guarded by a forest of pine trees and, at least the way architect Tom Fazio redesigned the hole a few years ago, a no-fly zone.
Surrounded by 2,500 spectators including Jack Nicklaus, Young looked at the fairway, looked at the trees and proceeded to launch a missile over the pines, leaving his foursomes partner Collin Morikawa with just a wedge into the green on a hole the members play as a par-5.
It is the airspace less taken – a day later the tee shot had a crisp breeze behind it allowing others to challenge the trees – but on Thursday it spoke to the confidence with which Young plays.
Later, after holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to close out a 2-and-1 victory over Tom Kim and K.H. Lee, Young admitted to feeling nerves on his first competitive tee shot as a member of an American team.
Young didn’t let the nerves show. Instead, for a guy who just completed his rookie season on the PGA Tour, he looked like he’s been part of these things for years – and he likely will be for many years to come.
“That’s a feeling I’ve been waiting for a long time,” Young said of hammering home the winning point in his first Presidents Cup match.
Young is expected to be named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year after a vote of his peers. While Sahith Theegala and Tom Kim had big seasons, Young separated himself with five runner-up finishes, including just one shot behind in both the PGA Championship and the Open Championship.
When U.S. Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III began sorting through his options for his six at-large picks, Young checked the key boxes. Experience aside, he’s immensely powerful, which comes in handy at Quail Hollow, and no moment has seemed too big for him this year.
“I think everything has come so quickly, and so quickly on the back of something else, that it’s been hard to really take time to reflect on it.” – Cameron Young
Needing an eagle at the short par-4 18th on Sunday at the Open Championship at St. Andrews, Young drove the green and made the putt, forcing eventual champion Cam Smith to make a birdie to beat him.
Two years ago, Young was ranked outside the top 1,500 in the world and playing Monday qualifiers while chasing spots in tour events. He eventually got into a Korn Ferry Tour event, put together four straight top-15 finishes and, by the end of 2021, had two KFT victories.
Just getting into his first Korn Ferry event – the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha, Nebraska – almost didn’t happen.
“I remember vividly flying an 8-iron over the green on the last hole, thinking that I hit it in a hazard and was going to make a 7. And it stayed out of the hazard and got up and down for birdie,” Young said.
“I sat in my car. The guy that was leading by three or four at that point, and I sat in the car waiting for a playoff hole time until they told me I got in. I can still picture that 8-iron flying over (the green).
“It’s been quite a journey.”
Now he’s an emerging star even as he tries to win his first PGA Tour event.
“I think everything has come so quickly, and so quickly on the back of something else, that it’s been hard to really take time to reflect on it,” Young said.
“I feel like each good thing I did afforded me new opportunity, and I kind of kept taking advantage of that opportunity all the way to get myself here.
“There’s been very little time in between any of that to really take a look at and think about the steps that led to me standing here. I think, moving forward, it will be more clear kind of how it all worked out, how fortunate I am to be here.”
Like Max Homa, who is also playing his first national team event as a professional, Young set making the Presidents Cup team as one of his goals. It was audacious given that he was playing his first full season on tour, but he made it easy for Love to pick him.
“I feel like as a golfer you kind of always assume that you can perform at a level high enough to be here. I don’t think anyone that’s ever played on one of these teams has thought differently than that. I don’t think anyone’s ever totally surprised themselves to make one of these teams or making it to a Tour championship. I think it’s things that I at least believed I could do,” Young said.
“But at the same time, I know that it’s unlikely. I mean, you know that there’s only 12 guys on the American team, so I think there’s some aspect of it where you have to be realistic with your expectations. But at the same time, have a belief that it’s all possible.”