Smylie Kaufman believes that Cam Young forced Matt Fitzpatrick into making a mistake that proved to be pivotal down the stretch on Sunday at The Players Championship.
With Ludvig Aberg faltering, the PGA Tour’s flagship event came down to Fitzpatrick and Young. The Englishman had led for much of the back nine, but Young responded with a sublime birdie on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass to move level with the 2022 US Open champion.
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The atmosphere was electric on the 18th tee. It had the feel of a playoff between the two men. And it was Young who got the opportunity to make the first statement.
Cam Young forced Matt Fitzpatrick into an error that cost him The Players Championship
The 28-year-old launched a 375-yard drive to put himself in the absolutely perfect position in the fairway.
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, left himself in the pine straw with an extremely difficult second shot. It would prove to be costly. He was unable to find the green with his approach, leaving himself with a tricky chip to get up and down.
Ultimately, his putt for a par slid by the hole. That left the stage clear for Young to tap in and secure his second PGA Tour victory.
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And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested that Young’s drive was the crucial moment in deciding who would get across the line.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
“I don’t think people realise how hard that tee shot on 18 was today with driver. The fairway was 15 yards wide with that club, and the line that he had to take, people just don’t understand standing on that tee what that feels like. I thought for a second that he was going to pull a long iron out and just put it in play. And when he pulled that driver out, I said he’s going to try and win the golf tournament right here,” he said.
“What it did was force Matt Fitzpatrick into hitting driver, which I thought, Fitzy, the whole time walking up to that 18th tee, I thought Fitzy was going to hit something other than driver. I thought he was going to hit three wood. He was hitting it really well throughout the day.
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“Driver to me, just didn’t feel like it was the right club for him because he was hitting it so low, and it felt like driver to a more narrow fairway for him because he couldn’t quite get the landing angle and the height like Cam Young did and turn it like Cam did, so that was just putting that pressure on, being in the same group to set that tone was incredible.”
What Smylie Kaufman noticed about Cam Young’s ball-striking at TPC Sawgrass
It has been such an impressive few months for Young. His game appeared to be heading in the wrong direction in the early stages of the 2025 season. His missed cut at The Masters was his sixth of the year.
But he began to turn his fortunes around, culminating in his win at the Wyndham Championship. Young was also arguably the find of the Ryder Cup, with Keegan Bradley sending him out first on Sunday at Bethpage.
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He has six top 10 finishes in 18 major appearances. So there is no question that he is a truly special talent with an incredibly high ceiling.
And Kaufman explained what he noticed about Young’s ball-striking while following him over the weekend at TPC Sawgrass.
“He’s that [a five-tool player], he’s already got those skills. He’s way up in that level to me. He can be as good as he wants to be. I truly believe that. His iron game, to me, is phenomenal,” he said.
“His ability to hit the ball where he’s looking more often than not, hit it in the middle of the face. His divots throughout the entire week, watching every shot he hit this weekend and also Sunday at Bay Hill, there wasn’t a divot that had a bad exit or entry point from the clubface into the ground.
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“Every single divot was a perfect dollar bill divot, and I’ve been chasing that divot for so long. And it was so frustrating, even on his bad shots, I would go up and look at his divot and his bad shots still had perfect divots. This guy can do no wrong, he never has a bad divot. All of them are exactly the way they should look. I think his wedges get a little steep sometimes, a little diggy, but that would be my only complaint, still a perfect divot.”
Many will now be tipping Young to contend at Augusta National next month. There is no reason why a major title cannot be in his immediate future.
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