Cameron Young, in the end, lost no ground.
He may also have gotten some followers.
What unfolded first was theatrics during Sunday’s final round on the PGA Tour Cadillac Championship. On his second shot on the second hole at Trump National Doral, Young he put the iron behind the ball, got the iron a little more than halfway, then stopped and looked at the ball. He said moving forward a bit.
Young called an official. The question was what moved the ball. Could it have been Young? Could it be something else? Young also led the way with five. The official arrived and Golf Channel microphones picked up Young saying he didn’t know “for sure” if he had set the ball in motion, before saying he hit the green and the ball rolled. The official told him a one-shot penalty would be assessed. Young also asked for a video review and the offense was not changed.
At stake in this scenario was rule 9.2b (2) of the Rules of Golf, which reads as follows:
“The player, the opponent or an outside influence is treated as having caused the movement of the ball only if it is known or practically certain to be the cause. If it is not known or practically certain that at least one of them was the cause, the ball is treated as having been moved by natural force. In applying this standard, all reasonably available information must be taken into account, which means all information that the player knows or can obtain without difficulty with reasonable effort.”
And what does “known or virtually certain” mean? Rules of Golf say this: “Known or virtually certain means more than merely possible or likely. It means that either there is conclusive evidence that the event in question occurred with the player’s ball, such as when the player or other witnesses saw it happen; or although there is a very small degree of doubt, all reasonably available information indicates that there is at least a 95 percent chance that the event in question occurred.”
On the Golf Channel broadcast, announcer Steve Sands and analysts Smiley Kaufman and Curt Byrum said this:
Kaufman said, “Most players in that situation will defend the field and be able to sleep at night.”
Said Sands: “But he said, ‘I wasn’t sure.'”
Said Byrum: “Putting the club behind the ball, he wasn’t sure if that was what caused the ball to move or not. But … if you’re going to err on the side of caution, you’re going to have to call the penalty on yourself.”
Kaufman said, “I think it should. Whenever you put your club behind the golf ball and the ball moves and you hit the ground, you have to assume that’s what it was.”
Cameron Young called a one-shot penalty against himself on Sunday no. 2 @Cadillac_Champ after causing his ball to move at address.
He still maintained par and holds a five-shot lead.
📺 PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/WcmHdr7MNF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 3, 2026
Of course, Young could also have said nothing about ball movement, a thought not lost on course analyst Roger Maltbie.
“It makes you proud to be a golfer,” he told the Golf Channel. “He’s the only guy who knew that. I think that’s pretty impressive.”
As was what followed.
Young hit his third shot to 13 feet.
Then he took the free throw.
And his lead stood at five.
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