Cameron Young wins elusive first PGA Tour title at Wyndham

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Cameron Young lastly received his first PGA Tour victory Sunday after seven runner-up finishes, and he made it look straightforward. He had 5 straight birdies early to construct a nine-shot lead and coasted dwelling to a two-under 68 to win the Wyndham Championship by six pictures.

He grew to become the 1,000th participant to win a acknowledged PGA Tour occasion, courting to Willie Park within the 1860 British Open. It will need to have felt as if it took Young 165 years to win contemplating what number of possibilities as he has had since his rookie season in 2022.

“I’ve been waiting for it for a while,” Young stated, his voice regular as tears welled in his eyes. “I never thought I’d be that emotional about it. But it’s the end of my fourth season. I’ve had my chances, and I wasn’t going to let it get away from me.”

There was no doubting this one.

He adopted these 5 straight birdies with 9 straight pars, and a pair of meaningless bogeys towards the top value him solely an opportunity on the event solo scoring file. He completed at 22-under 258, tying the file held by J.T. Poston (2019) and Henrik Stenson (2017).

“Where do I go? I’ve never done this before,” Young stated when he walked off the 18th inexperienced.

Mac Meissner gained the B-flight. He shot 66 to complete alone in second, value $893,800 and sufficient to maneuver him to No. 86 within the FedEx Cup standings. He will not be advancing to the postseason, however the end result provides him an enormous increase for staying within the prime 100 by November to maintain his full card.

Auburn junior Jackson Koivun shot 67 and tied for fifth, getting him into the subsequent PGA Tour occasion in September. He has deferred his PGA Tour card from the accelerated PGA Tour University program till subsequent yr.

The victory couldn’t have come at a greater time for Young, the 28-year-old New Yorker whose greatest purpose this yr was to be in uniform at Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup.

The victory strikes him solely to No. 15 within the Ryder Cup standings, however he will get two extra FedEx Cup playoff occasions to make his case, and his energy is a perfect match at Bethpage Black, the place in 2017 he grew to become the primary newbie to win the New York State Open.

“That team is a goal of many of us,” Young stated. “Obviously, I would love the chance to play. I’ve got some more opportunities to earn my way on the team.”

There was loads of drama at Sedgefield Country Club, however not on the prime of the leaderboard.

Young had a five-shot lead and wobbled on the opening gap, making bogey. But he poured in an 8-foot putt on the subsequent gap, the beginning of 5 straight birdies. Most telling was the third gap, when Nico Echavarria let loose a yell and a fist pump when he made a birdie from simply inside 30 ft. Young calmly responded with a 25-foot birdie putt, and the rout was on.

The Wyndham Championship is the ultimate event of the common season that decided the highest 70 within the FedEx Cup who advance to the profitable postseason that begins Thursday.

Ultimately, solely Chris Kirk moved into the highest 70 together with his tie for fifth, and Byeong Hun An (missed minimize) was the one one to fall out.

But the ultimate hour was no much less riveting.

Davis Thompson wanted a giant end to maneuver from No. 78 within the FedEx Cup, and he received simply that with a birdie putt from simply inside 50 ft on the par-5 fifteenth. He was inside the highest 70 when he reached the 18th, solely to three-putt from 45 ft. Thompson missed a 6-foot par putt, shifting him again right down to No. 71 by a margin of 5 factors.

“Sucks ending the regular season this way,” Thompson stated.

The closing spot went to Matti Schmid of Germany, who got here into the ultimate week at No. 70 and remarkably stayed there. He was on the verge of lacking the minimize till returning Saturday morning to complete the storm-delayed second spherical by taking part in the final six holes in 5 beneath.

And then on Sunday, after a double bogey on No. 11 put him at 5 over for his spherical, Schmid birdied his final three holes from 25 ft, 10 ft and 25 ft that wound up sending him to the FedEx St. Jude Championship subsequent week with its $20 million purse.

Schmid had hope when he noticed a videoboard on the fifteenth projecting him at No. 72.

“Which I thought, ‘All right, this is not too far away.’ And then I made three birdies, so probably I should look at it more often,” Schmid stated.

No one exhaled fairly like Young, a giant expertise who lastly has a trophy to point out for it. Not since David Duval had somebody had seven runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour earlier than profitable. Even extra irritating for Young was that somebody at all times performed higher.

His final-round scoring common in these runner-up finishes was 66.7. Another was in match play, the place Sam Burns beat him with eight birdies on his final 10 holes.

Young made it laborious for anybody to beat him Sunday.