Cameron Young started this Masters cold. There is no hotter player right now

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Professional golfers are semi-predictable, almost like publicly traded companies. They have trends, patterns, trends, runs. Cameron YoungThe most mature 28-year-old you could ever hope to meet is trending toward the second-floor champions’ locker room at Augusta National.

He finished second at the British Open in St. Andrews in 2022. He played stoic and impressive at last year’s Ryder Cup. Last month he won the Players Championship. Young — a native New Yorker who went to Wake Forest and lives in South Florida with his wife and kids — is playing in his fifth Masters. Through 54 holes of this, these are his six nine-hole scores: 40-33; 34-33; 32-33. For those of you into trends, patterns, trends and the like, there’s a lot out there.

He won’t go for 80 on Sunday. You don’t want to say there is no chance, except that there is no chance.

Cam Young wouldn’t have first-hand knowledge of this, as he was born a month before the blessed event, but at the 1997 Masters, Tiger Woods went 40 on Thursday — and won by 12. This Cam Young, with his dark beard and serious demeanor and booming putt — is a better start to doing the same on Thursday. Sunday night. His rounds are 73, 67 and 65. He won’t wilt in Sunday’s heat here, neither the literal heat (mid-80s by mid-afternoon), nor the figurative heat.

CBS can’t ignore it, Rory McIlroy can’t, we golf chefs can’t ignore it. McIlroy and Young are the co-leaders of this 90th Masters, both at 11 under par. They will play in the final double on Sunday afternoon, kicking off at 2:25. You will see a lot of them. Sam Burns, a shot back, will have to earn his pipe time.

These Sundays at the Masters are long, and Cam Young’s three children are all under four. His Sunday will begin with church, followed by a trip to the gym, the driving range, the practice bunker, the green, the first tee and the best chance he’s had (to date) of his first professional title. In high school, he won the Catholic League titles. He went to Fordham Prep, a Jesuit school. His father is the head pro at Sleepy Hollow, an old-line course in Westchester County. Young doesn’t do bits, jokes, magic tricks. He is refreshingly tough and fair. “I don’t realize I’m going to be the fan favorite,” he said early Saturday night, speaking to reporters.

He played McIlroy on Thursday and Friday – he knows firsthand how popular McIlroy is here. When McIlroy played the final doubles Sunday at the Open at the Old Course, Young was doubles directly across from McIlroy. He could also hear the singing and chanting about McIlroy there. On Saturday afternoon at last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, Young and Justin Thomas played (and lost to) McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Young heard the verbal abuse from the overwhelmed fans directed at McIlroy. Young has earned his observation about fan partisanship.

But these things can also be unpredictable, even at Augusta National, where the spectators are so knowledgeable and usually polite. But in 1991, when Wales’ Ian Woosnam was trying to win while paired with Tom Watson in the final group, the fans openly cheered him on. That won’t happen on Sunday at this Masters, but fans love an underdog and they love the next-new thing and they love a back nine with so much tension you feel sloppy without playing a shot.

When he played late in the Players on Sunday, Young said he was preparing to play Sunday in the Masters. And now that Sunday is here.

McIlroy, who won the 2025 Players, was asked to compare Sunday at the 2025 Masters to Sunday at the 2026 Masters.

“I’d like to think I’m going to play a little bit looser and play like I’ve already got a green jacket, which I do,” McIlroy said.

“I think the pairing will be a little bit easier,” McIlroy said. Last year, in the final, McIlroy played Bryson DeChambeau. He froze it out, start to finish. “The atmosphere there will be a little bit easier. I played with Cam the first two days and I played with him again (Sunday). I think it’s a comfortable group for both of us.”

Of course, a comfortable couple does not predict a comfortable day. And past performance does not predict future results. But Sunday looks good. You can double on Sunday.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.