Cameron Young’s surprise admission: Fear more than a 1-foot winner

Cameron Young’s post-match press conference was an unexpected delight. Young has always been more interesting than he’s presented on the outside – there’s humor and insight hidden beneath the beard – but even by those standards, this was a great show. The glow of victory combined with the fatigue of four days at TPC Sawgrass was a successful combination: Young was honest, direct, thoughtful, insightful. He even missed two intervals.

I enjoyed his candor on several topics, including a particular challenge to kill under the gun down one of golf’s most difficult, chaotic ends.

One example: How hard was that tee shot on No. 17? Young provided two interesting details.

“You know, it’s really hard. That wind was really hard, the wind came down a lot. I just got the best number you could ask for. I felt like if I hit a hard sand sword it would carry that house a yard or two, and trying to hit a soft gap would be very difficult.”

It shows a certain humility when the winner knows that he is lucky to have helped him cross the line.

Another nod: Young gave himself a pep talk before his tee shot on No. 18, tied for the lead with Matt Fitzpatrick, with a dead left and a problem on the right.

“My thought process with that ball is, one, to make sure I’m committed to my lane, and second, the main thought is I’m going to hit the best shot of my life right here,” Young said. “I don’t know if I can think of a better one.”

Sure enough, he hit the driver 375 yards down the fairway – the longest drive in TPC Sawgrass’ 18. (Relax, yes. Still!) Cheating.

So, is that a pep talk he gives himself every so often?

“No, I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever had that thought before,” she said. If he is in a similar situation, I would recommend that he give it a try.

The reception of the most vulnerable Young was perhaps most interesting to him. After his playing partner – and only competitor – Matthew Fitzpatrick missed his par putt on No. 18, Young just had a one-foot putt to win. And he suddenly felt something: great fear.

How scared was he?

“I was really good until I had to make an eight-inch putt on the last hole, and I just broke,” Young said. ShotLink recorded the final putt at 16 inches; we will split the difference and call it a foot. The youngster struggled to put the ball down after being re-injured.

“I couldn’t get my line to point anywhere near the hole and I went to hit it anyway, maybe I shouldn’t have got it, but it went in, so everything is fine,” he said.

Professionals have talked about this before, how short putts play golf because there is no good result; everyone thinks you will succeed and it would be a disaster if you didn’t. Lots of good stuff be missed short putts in similar situations. Young would have company. Still, it showed some confidence that Young was willing to admit his fears.

And now everything is going really well. The new golfer is the new golfer, the owner of 4.5 million dollars of American dollars, the first entry into the top 10 in the world (and the first entry into the top five, if my statistics are checked – we will see on Monday morning) and a guaranteed winner. His future on the Tour is secure, at least until the PGA Tour realigns its future; he is exempt from the Tour until 2031 and exempt from all four majors for the next three years. Last year at this time Young was outside the top 50 in the world. He is rising in every sense of the word.