Cameron Young wins first PGA Tour
title by demolishing field at Wyndham Championship
[August 04, 2025]
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Cameron Young finally got his first
PGA Tour victory Sunday after seven runner-up finishes, and he made
it look easy. He had five straight birdies early to build a
nine-shot lead and coasted home to a 2-under 68 to win the Wyndham
Championship by six shots.
He became the 1,000th player to win a recognized PGA Tour event,
dating to Willie Park in the 1860 British Open. It must have felt
like it took Young 165 years to win as many chances as he has had
since his rookie season in 2022.
“I've been waiting for it for a while,” Young said, his voice steady
as tears welled in his eyes. “I never thought I'd be that emotional
about it. But it's the end of my fourth season. I've had my chances
and I wasn't going to let it get away from me.”
There was no doubting this one.
He followed those five straight birdies with nine straight pars, a
pair of meaningless bogeys toward the end only cost him a chance at
the tournament scoring record. He finished at 22-under 258, tying
the record held by J.T. Poston (2019) and Henrik Stenson (2017).
“Where do I go? I've never done this before,” Young said when he
walked off the 18th green.
Mac Meissner won the B-flight. He shot 66 to finish alone in second,
worth $893,800 and enough to move him to No. 86 in the FedEx Cup. He
won't be advancing to the postseason, but it gives him a huge boost
for staying in the top 100 by November to keep his full card.
Auburn junior Jackson Koivun shot 67 and tied for fifth, getting him
into the next PGA Tour event in September. He has deferred his PGA
Tour card from the accelerated PGA Tour University program until
next year.
The victory could not have come at a better time for Young, the
28-year-old New Yorker whose biggest goal this year was to be in
uniform at Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup.
The victory only moves him to No. 15 in the Ryder Cup standings, but
he gets two more FedEx Cup playoff events to make his case and his
power is an ideal fit at Bethpage Black, where in 2017 he became the
first amateur to win the New York State Open.
“That team is a goal of many of us,” Young said. “Obviously, I would
love the chance to play. I've got some more opportunities to earn my
way on the team.”
There was plenty of drama at Sedgefield Country Club, but not at the
top of the leaderboard.
Young had a five-shot lead and wobbled on the opening hole, making
bogey. But he poured in an 8-foot birdie putt on the next hole, the
start of five straight birdies. Most telling was the third hole,
when Nico Echavarria let out a yell and a fist pump when he made a
birdie from just inside 30 feet. Young calmly responded with a
25-foot birdie putt and the rout was on.
The Wyndham Championship is the final tournament of the regular
season that determined the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who advance to
the lucrative postseason that starts next week.
[to top of second column] |
Cameron Young hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during the final
round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro,
N.C., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Ultimately, only Chris Kirk moved into the top 70 with his tie for
fifth, and Byeong Hun An (missed cut) was the only one to fall out.
But the final hour was no less riveting.
Davis Thompson needed a big finish to move from No. 78 in the FedEx
Cup, and he got just that with a birdie putt from just inside 50
feet on the par-5 15th. He was inside the top 70 when he reached the
18th, only to three-putt from 45 feet. Thompson missed a 6-foot par
putt, moving him back down to No. 71 by a margin of five points.
“Sucks ending the regular season this way,” Thompson said.
The final spot went to Matti Schmid of Germany, who came into the
final week at No. 70 and remarkably stayed there. He was on the
verge of missing the cut until returning Saturday morning to finish
the storm-delayed second round by playing the last six holes in 5
under.
And then on Sunday, after a double bogey on No. 11 put him at 5 over
for his round, Schmid birdied his last three holes from 25 feet, 10
feet and 25 feet that wound up sending him to the FedEx St. Jude
Championship next week with its $20 million purse.
Schmid had hope when he saw a video board on the 15th projecting him
at No. 72.
“Which I thought, ‘All right, this is not too far away.’ And then I
made three birdies so probably I should look at it more often,”
Schmid said.
No one exhaled quite like Young, a big talent who finally has a
trophy to show for it. Not since David Duval had someone had seven
runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour before winning. Even more
frustrating for Young was someone always played better.
His final-round scoring average in those runner-up finishes was
66.7. The other was in Match Play, where Sam Burns beat him with
eight birdies on his last 10 holes.
Young made it hard for anyone to beat him Sunday.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
