When Cameron Young won Players Championship, there was a lot to take away from the performance. He hit it well down the stretch, handled the pressure and closed with authority.
But it was one detail from Sunday’s broadcast that stuck with me more than anything else.
According to Brad Faxon, Young is no longer reading his shots. His caddy is doing it for him.
He didn’t just trust his caddy—he simplified the process
Young is very clear why Kyle Sterbinsky is in the bag.
Sterbinsky is not a long-time caddy on Tour. He is a former teammate at Wake Forest and one of Young’s closest friends. Young brought him into the bag in mid-2025 during a period where things weren’t quite clicking and the partnership has taken off ever since.
He called him “one of my best friends,” said he’s “great at reading the greens,” has “a great golf mind” and has become “a great asset.”
This is more than having someone who can pick up an old number or keep your equipment in order.
Young eliminated an entire variable from his game, and that’s the part that matters.
What he really eliminated
Think about what happens when you stand on a putt.
You have already read it. You have selected a line. But just before you hit him, something creeps up.
Is this right?
This is when most golfers lose it. Because now you are questioning a decision that has already been made.
This is when Young is removed from the equation.
Reading is not arguing for the ball. It has already been decided and, more importantly, it has been trusted. There is no second pass in it. No last second changes. Just one clear decision and now he can execute.
Why It Works (And Why Most Golfers Don’t)
Most golfers are trying to manage everything at once:
- Reading
- Speed
- Stroke
- The result
That’s a lot.
When you’re standing on a putt trying to juggle all of that, something has to give. What Young did was reduce the number of things he had to manage at the moment. This is where the advantage comes from.
He finished the week seventh in Strokes Gained: Putting at The Players and earned his second Tour victory.
Does this matter to your game?
Chances are you won’t be playing with a caddy every round. Very few golfers have that luxury. The good news is that you don’t need one to benefit from this strategy.
You just have to believe YOURSELF the way Cameron Young trusts Sterbinsky.
When you read a pitch and decide on a line, don’t waver. Stick with it. Commit to it. From that moment on, your only job is to get the ball rolling.
Do yourself a favor and try to eliminate one variable. If you have trouble reading the greens, work on it. Spend time on the putting green learning how shots break.
Hesitation and doubt will never help the ball fall into the hole.
My opinion
I think Cameron Young’s strategy is brilliant. Yes, Sterbinsky can be great at reading greens, I don’t doubt that. But Young didn’t win because of his ability to read the green.
He won because he didn’t have to think about it anymore.
And there’s a lot of power in that.
Main photo caption: Young and Sterbinsky read a putt during the 2025 tournament championship. (GETTY IMAGES/Matthew Maxey)
