Cameron Young’s surprising admission: Terror on the 1 meter winner

Cameron Young’s post-players press conference it was an unexpected pleasure. Young has always been more interesting than he appears on the surface – there’s humor and perspective lurking beneath the chin – but even by these standards, this was a great show. The glow of victory combined with the exhaustion of four days at TPC Sawgrass was an effective combination: Young was honest, direct, thoughtful, deep. He even smiled a few times.

I appreciated his candor on several topics, including the specific challenge of executing under the gun on one of the toughest, most chaotic finishes in golf.

An example: How hard was that tee shot on No. 17? Young offered two interesting details.

“You know, it’s really hard. That wind was really hard, downwind. I happened to have the best number you could ask for. I felt like if I just hit a full hard sand wedge, it would hold that bunker a yard or two and trying to hit a softer wedge would be a lot harder.”

It shows a certain humility when a winner has the self-awareness to appreciate the good fortune that helped him cross the line.

Another admission: Young gave himself a pep talk before his tee shot on No. 18, tied for the lead with Matt Fitzpatrick, dead left and trouble right.

“My thought process on that ball is, one, make sure I’m committed to my line, and two, the main thought is I’m going to hit the best shot of my life right here,” Young said. “I don’t know if I can think of one that’s better.”

Sure enough, he hit the driver 375 yards down the fairway to right-center — the longest drive in TPC Sawgrass’ 18th recorded history. (Downwind, yes. Still!) Silly.

So is this a strong conversation that he makes himself often?

“No, I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever had that thought before,” he said. If he is in a similar situation, I would recommend him to give it a try.

Young’s most vulnerable admission was perhaps his most interesting. After his playing partner – and only remaining competitor – Matthew Fitzpatrick missed his par putt on No. 18, Young suddenly had a one-foot putt to win. And he felt something unexpected: utter terror.

How nervous was he?

“I was really, really good until I had to hit an eight-inch putt on the last hole and I almost chipped,” Young said. ShotLink recorded the final shot at 16 inches; we’ll split the difference and call it about a foot. Young tried to put the ball down after scoring it again.

“I couldn’t get my line to go anywhere near the hole, and I went and hit it anyway, which I probably shouldn’t have. But it went in, so it’s all good,” he said.

The pros have talked about this before, how short putts are the most nerve-wracking shots in golf because there is no good result; everyone assumes you will make it and it would be a disaster if you didn’t. Very pro HAVE missed extremely short shots in similar circumstances. Young would have had company. Still, it showed some self-assurance that Young was willing to admit his fears.

And now everything is really good. Young is the youngest champion golfer, owner of US$4.5 million, entered the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time (and the top five for the first time, if my math checks out – we’ll see on Monday morning) and certified winner. His Tour future is secure, at least until the PGA Tour reshapes his future; he is banned from the Tour until 2031 and he is banned from all four majors for the next three years. A year ago this time Young was outside the top 50 in the world. He is ascendant, in every sense of the word.