Cameron Young keeps making a compelling case for a berth on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
On Friday, his wedges were dialed in, and he birdied five of six holes and half the holes at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta en route to carding an 8-under 62 in the second round of the Tour Championship.
“Just hit my wedges great, controlled my distance really well, and the greens were just soft enough that it’s not bouncing much of anywhere, but nothing is really spinning much either,” Young said.
He had 15 one-putt greens, including every hole on the back nine. He ranked first in SG: Approach the Green and second in SG: Putting. Young stuck seven approach shots within 7 feet in his final eight holes. His 29 coming home marked his lowest nine-hole score this season. He also tied his lowest round this season, a 62 in the second round of the Wyndham Championship. That propelled him to a 36-hole total of 11-under 129, two strokes off the lead and alone in third place.
“I did a really good job taking advantage of a day where if you were in control, you were going to have some good looks,” Young said.
His chances for making the U.S. Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick by Keegan Bradley have been on the rise ever since he won the Wyndham Championship for his PGA Tour title. He finished fifth at the FedEx St. Jude Championship thanks to a final-round 64 and 11th last week at the BMW Championship with 66-65 in the middle rounds. After a sluggish start to the season, he has been playing well all summer, including T-4 at the RBC Canadian Open and T-4 at the U.S. Open. Bradley has taken notice, and likely is well aware that Young has been the most improved putter on Tour this season – from No. 145 in SGP last year to No. 7 this season.
“He’s been incredibly encouraging to me. He’s obviously watching everybody very closely, and he’s been very kind to reach out and show some enthusiasm and some support when I’ve played well,” Young said of Bradley. “But yeah, I know he’s got a lot on his plate, so I don’t expect a ton from him. But he’s been very nice to me, and I appreciate any consideration he’s given me to putting me on that team.”
When asked to assess what he had going in his favor for a pick, he said, “Think recent form is kind of a hard one to deny. Aside from that, it’s my home state, it’s a golf course I love. It’s almost exclusively a major championship venue, and my major record is pretty good. I think there’s a few points that if I had to make my case to him, those are things I’d like him to know.”
Young’s affinity for Bethpage Black dates to his success playing there in the New York State Open. He once shot a final-round 64, which at the time was the course record, and won in a playoff.
“I’ve always loved it. It’s a straightforward, big-boy golf course. There’s just not much funky about it. The greens are not crazy. The fairways aren’t really, really narrow. It’s long, but it’s not the longest place in the world,” he said. But it’s just straightforward. It’s difficult. That’s the kind of golf that I like.” And in case he hadn’t made his point yet, he said he loved the course for a third time.
“Happy to play there anytime,” he said.
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