CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cameron Young is one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour, and he’s showing no signs up letting up.
Seeking to win back-to-back events, Young threatened the course record at Quail Hollow on Saturday before settling for an 8-under 63, leaving him two shots behind Alex Fitzpatrick at the Truist Championship.
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Fitzpatrick was at 14-under 199 through 54 holes, one shot ahead of Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan after each shot 64.
Young, who won last week’s Cadillac Championship at Doral by six strokes, needed to play the final two holes in 2 under to break Rory McIlroy’s course record of 10-under 61, set in 2015.
But his birdie putt on No. 17 stopped inches from the hole and his drive on the 18th settled in pine straw behind a tree, forcing him to punch out and leading to his only bogey of the day.
“I know (the record was) 10 under and I knew I was at nine,” Young said. “But that wasn’t my thought. I was just trying to hit it somewhere right of the hole on 17 and hit a couple good shots on 18. Unfortunately had one of my few bad swings of the day on 18.”
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Before that, Young had sent his shot from a fairway bunker 238 yards away to within a few feet of the hole on No. 7 for eagle. He seized that momentum to birdie six of his next nine holes.
Matt Fitzpatrick was one of the favorites to win the Truist Championship — but it turns out little brother Alex is the one to watch this week.
Alex Fitzpatrick, who only earned his PGA Tour card two weeks ago when he teamed with his brother to win the win the Zurich Classic, rebounded from his only bogey of the day with a tee shot to 8 feet on the par-3 17th hole for birdie to reach 14 under.
Matt Fitzpatrick is a former U.S. Open champion who’s currently ranked fourth in the world, and Alex said having his brother to lean on has been invaluable.
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“I feel like he’s been and done everything that I want to do in the game — whether that’s Ryder Cup and win majors,” said Alex Fitzpatrick, who tied for ninth last week at Doral. “So having him being around and me being there for all of that, I felt like I got a really good sense of what it takes and what the atmosphere is like.”
Reitan, also a rookie, made some noise at the Masters before going 73-77 over the weekend to finish tied for 41st. He closed Saturday with four birdies over the final six holes to surge into second place.
“Just the opportunity to be near the leaderboard on a Sunday at a PGA Tour event, you know, rookie season — I’m just over the moon about that,” Reitan said.
Nicolai Hojgaard was four shots behind along with second-round leader Sungjae Im, who struggled down the stretch and shot 70.
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Im skulled a bunker shot on the 15th hole, and the ball hit a grandstand and rolled back across the green before settling not far from where he began. It was one of two bogeys for the South Korean over the final four holes.
Justin Thomas, J.J. Spaun and Tommy Fleetwood were five shots back.
Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 2 player and four-time tournament champion, had a disastrous day, shooting 75 to fall out of contention.
Playing in his first event since winning his second Masters, McIlroy looked like he might make a charge up the leaderboard after bombing his drive down the middle on No. 1 and hitting his approach within a few feet for birdie.
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But he didn’t make another birdie until the 15th hole, with six bogeys in between on one of his favorite courses. He fell 13 shots off the pace.
Fitzpatrick could have a challenge holding the lead on Sunday.
Young has won three of his last 14 starts, including the Players Championship in March, to move to No. 3 in the world.
“I’m playing great,” Young said. “There is not a ton going on in my head, which is I think a very good thing. There is all kinds of stuff, but it’s nothing complicated. I’m thinking about shots and I’m thinking about my execution and that’s mainly where my head is at.”
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