Social media being what it is these days, the flight from Manchester, England, to London last Monday morning may not have departed before images were crackling through cyberspace of newly crowned Open Championship winner Ryan Fox tucking the Claret Jug into an overhead airplane bin.
And who was one row behind Fox on the plane watching it all happen?
Cameron Young, who came within one swing of being in a playoff with Fox about 12 hours earlier, undone by his bogey on the 72nd hole and Fox’s storybook birdie on the same hole.
“I got on right in front of him. He got to be first the day before,” Young said, cracking a sly smile during a Zoom conference call last week.
For Fox, the victory was career-altering, 39 years in the making. Though it denied the 29-year-old Young his first major championship victory, he closed with a Sunday 64 to have a chance in a season that has already redefined his place in professional golf’s hierarchy.
Next week, Young will return to the Wyndham Championship, where he won his first PGA Tour title one year ago, instantly changing the narrative that had developed around his track record of seven runner-up finishes without a victory.
It was the first of three wins in 14 starts, including the Players Championship, and had he won at Royal Birkdale, Young would likely have locked down 2026 player-of-the-year honors.
While Fox settled in with his carry-on luggage last week, Young has settled into his own comfortable place.
“He’s a good guy, and obviously, as much as I wanted to win, it’s cool to see someone realize a dream like that. It’s a special moment. And as much as I wanted it to be [me], it’s still really cool for him, and still happy to see him succeed at that level,” Young said.
“On one hand it’s still kind of fresh, and on the other hand, if I had won and he had finished second, he would have done the same thing with me. He would have smiled and said good morning and congratulations. I think at the end of the day, that’s just the right way to do it. I wasn’t going to just, you know, ignore him and be mad at him next morning.”
“It almost turned into a win this last week, but to me, as much as it is a major, and I would have loved to have won, that’s week one of a six-week stretch [to end the season]. So I feel like there are a lot of positive signs.”
Cameron Young
From one perspective, Young’s rise to No. 3 in the world ranking seems sudden, considering what he was still chasing 12 months ago. But Young has been on a steady climb since leaving Wake Forest and joining the PGA Tour for the 2021-22 season.
He is, compared to others, quiet and introspective, and the father of three children who occupy much of his time when he’s not on the golf course.
When Young went 3-1-0 in the Ryder Cup last fall at Bethpage Black, achieving a personal goal of representing his country near where he grew up, he was the American star in a disappointing week.
He hit arguably the shot of the year on the menacing 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course, bending a draw 375 yards around the water, to seal his Players victory the way Arnold Schwarzenegger used to seal the fate of his movie foes.
Young won the Cadillac Championship at Doral in a runaway over Scottie Scheffler and were it not for a flat Thursday at the Masters and a similarly flat Saturday at Royal Birkdale, the list of major championship winners this year might look dramatically different.
“I said it to my wife Kelsey before I left. I said, ‘I feel like I’m building towards some good, and whether it’s this week or not, it doesn’t really matter because I feel like I’m going in the right direction,’” Young said.
Said Cameron Young: “It just is really a battle of dealing with whatever you have that day, and trying to make it work. That’s what we do.”
TRACY WILCOX, PGA TOUR VIA GETTY IMAGES
This week at the Rocket Classic, Young is playing the first event in a run of five in a row to conclude his FedEx Cup season on the PGA Tour. It’s a grinding run but Young has played just four events since the PGA Championship in mid-May.
Over time, Young has learned to read his own signals about his game and, after three flat performances to start his summer, he could feel things improving before he got to Royal Birkdale.
“I’ve won three times in however many starts but it doesn’t necessarily change the feelings for me going out to play,” Young said. “It just is really a battle of dealing with whatever you have that day, and trying to make it work. That’s what we do.
“You have good days, you have bad ones, and I think part of the learning curve is just coming to accept that whatever you have can be good enough. And I’ve been fortunate that it’s worked out that way a few times in the last year.”
The first win is always special but the Wyndham Championship title came about 30 minutes from Wake Forest, where Young played his college golf and has endowed a scholarship.
Coach Jerry Haas has two rules for his players – no facial hair and no shorts in competition – and Young still abides by one of them.
“The shorts [rule] hasn’t gotten beaten out of me, but yeah, the beard,” Young said, smiling through his thick beard.
“I would have preferred to have one then probably as well. But I still don’t wear shorts. I’m out in Texas and it’s 100 degrees and I’ve got pants on.”
No reason to mess with success.
Top: Cameron Young came oh-so-close in the Open Championship.
