AUGUSTA, Ga. — Professional golfers are semi-predictable, almost like publicly-traded companies. They have trends, patterns, tendencies, runs. Cameron Young, the most mature 28-year-old you could ever expect to meet, is trending in the direction of the second-floor Champions Locker Room at Augusta National.
He finished second at the British Open in St. Andrews in 2022. He played stoically and impressively at last year’s Ryder Cup. Last month he won the Players Championship. Young — a native New Yorker who went to Wake Forest and lives in South Florida with his wife and children — is playing in his fifth Masters. Through 54 holes of this one, these are his six nine-hole scores: 40-33; 34-33; 32-33. For those of you into trends, patterns, tendencies and the like, there’s a lot there.
He’s not going for 80 on Sunday. You don’t want to say there’s no chance, except there’s no chance.
Cam Young would have no first-hand knowledge of this, as he was born a month before the blessed event, but at the 1997 Masters Tiger Woods went out in 40 on Thursday — and won by 12. This Cam Young, with his dark beard and serious demeanor and smash-bang downswing — is one more good round from doing the same, starting with 40 shots on Thursday and getting fitted for a green coat Sunday night. His rounds are 73, 67 and 65. He’s not going to wilt in the Sunday heat here, not the literal heat (mid-80s by mid-afternoon), not the figurative heat.
CBS can’t overlook him, Rory McIlroy can’t, we golf kooks can’t overlook him. McIlroy and Young are the co-leaders of this 90th Masters, both at 11 under par. They will play in the Sunday afternoon’s final twosome, heading out at 2:25. You’re going to be seeing loads of both of them. Sam Burns, one shot back, is going to have to earn his tube time.
These Sundays at the Masters are long, and Cam Young’s three kids are all under four. His Sunday will begin with church, followed by a trip to the physio, the range, the practice bunker, the putting green, the first tee and the best chance he has had (to date) for his first professional major. In high school, he won the Catholic League titles. He went to Fordham Prep, a Jesuit school. His father is the head pro at Sleepy Hollow, an old-line course in Westchester County. Young doesn’t do bits, jokes, magic tricks. He’s refreshingly austere and straight. “I don’t get the sense I’ll be the fan favorite,” he said early Saturday night, talking to reporters.
He played with McIlroy on Thursday and Friday — he knows firsthand how popular McIlroy is here. When McIlroy played in the last twosome on Sunday at the Open at the Old Course, Young was in the twosome right in front of McIlroy’s. He could hear the chanting and singing for McIlroy there, too. On Saturday afternoon at last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, Young and Justin Thomas played (and lost to) McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Young heard the verbal abuse from overserved fans directed at McIlroy. Young has earned his observation about fan partisanship.
But these things can be unpredictable, too, even at Augusta National, where the spectators are so famously knowledgeable and typically courteous. But in 1991, when Ian Woosnam of Wales was trying to win while being paired with Tom Watson in the final group, fans were openly cheering against him. That’s not going to happen Sunday at this Masters, but fans do love an underdog and they do love the next-new-thing and they do love a back nine with so much tension you feel clammy without playing a shot.
When he played late at the Players on Sunday, Young said he was preparing himself to play on Sunday at the Masters. And now that Sunday is here.
McIlroy, who won the 2025 Players, was asked to compare Sunday at the Masters 2025 with Sunday at the Masters 2026.
“I’d like to think that I’ll play a little bit freer and I’ll play like I’ve already got a green jacket, which I do,” McIlroy said.
“I think the pairing will be just a little bit easier,” McIlroy said. Last year, in the finale, McIlroy played with Bryson DeChambeau. He froze him out, start to finish. “The atmosphere out there will be a little bit easier. I played with Cam the first two days and playing with him again [on Sunday]. I think it’s a comfortable group for both of us.”
Of course, a comfortable pairing does not predict a comfortable day. And past performance does not predict future results. But Sunday looks good. You can double-down on Sunday.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.
