As the final round of the 2025 Wyndham Championship is yet to commence, Cameron Young once again finds himself in a familiar position, near the top of the leaderboard. Only this time, he’s not chasing; he’s leading, and it’s yet another chance to quiet the noise that has unfairly trailed him throughout his career. He’s been here before — the final groups, weekend contention, cameras locked in, social media buzz. To some, this is just another opportunity for Young to “choke”—a word that’s become unfairly fused to his name, given that he’s come close to a win several times.

But for anyone truly paying attention, his career isn’t a failure. It’s proof of something far more impressive — that he has always been there in contention. And yet, the narrative continues to label him as a failure. It ignores the difficulty of winning on Tour, the quality of fields he contends in, and the staggering consistency that many would kill for. Despite being among the Tour’s most consistent performers and top earners, his lack of a win on the PGA Tour has led to an overblown fixation on his so-called inability to close. That narrative, however, is both weary and mistaken. And a deeper look at Cameron Young’s track record will prove just that and reveal something far more valuable — that he is relentless with elite-level consistency.

Cameron Young: The epitome of consistency

Let’s go back in time to put things in perspective. Cameron Young turned pro in 2019 and earned his way on the PGA Tour in 2022 after bagging two wins on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021. And since then, Young hasn’t stopped showing up. As a rookie on the PGA Tour, Young first teed it up at the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii, but failed to make the cut. It probably was a clear case of nerves. But it didn’t take too long for him to shake that off, and his first breakthrough came at the 2022 Genesis Invitational.

He finished tied 2nd, where he went toe-to-toe with Collin Morikawa and shot a blistering 17-under to finish two shots behind the leader, Joaquin Niemann, and it vaulted him to within the top 100 in the world rankings. And that was the start to Young piling up a string of strong finishes that would threaten almost anyone on Tour. He then rattled off three consecutive top-3 finishes at the 2022 RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, and the PGA Championship. He wasn’t just making cuts; he was contending on demanding tracks, against tough competitors. He capped the year with a solo second at the 150th Open Championship, finishing just one shot behind Cameron Smith at St. Andrews.

By the end of that year, Young had collected seven top-10 finishes, including five runner-up finishes. You might call it beginner’s luck, but that kind of consistency wasn’t a fluke, as the trend continued the following years. Out of 93 career PGA Tour starts, Cameron Young has made the cut in 72 of them. That’s an impressive 77.4% in cuts made, which speaks to his week-in, week-out reliability. But the point here is that he didn’t just scrape by in those, he rather excelled. And his all-around career stats on the PGA Tour prove just that.

Cameron Young’s impressive records & close calls

Now, Young has had 7 runner-up finishes in his PGA Tour career, and his last runner-up finish was at the 2024 Valspar Championship. In fact, it placed Young’s name into the record books for that very stat for having the most runner-up finishes by any player in the last 40 years without a win on the PGA Tour. This is indeed a brutal but telling reflection of how close he has come, repeatedly. And not just his second-place finishes, but Young has also had 12 top-five finishes in 93 starts. This places him second to Tommy Fleetwood in having the most top-five finishes without a win since 2022 on the PGA Tour.

He also recorded 22 top-ten finishes, including some remarkable performances in majors. At the 150th Open Championship, Young entered the final round at St.Andrews sharing the lead with Cameron Smith, as they both shot 12-under over 54 holes. But the Australian went on a ludicrous birdie streak to finish one shot over Young. The next year in 2023, Young had another impressive finish at the Open (tied 8th) besides his tied 7th finish at the Masters. This year, too, he finished tied 4th at Oakmont, adding to his stellar record of six top-10 finishes in majors since 2022. And his rankings are proof that he belongs in the conversation surrounding the elite. As of now, Young sits 40th in the FedExCup standings and 44th in the OWGR—solidly positioned among the game’s elite. The only thing missing from the resume? A trophy to show for it.

At the 2025 Wyndham Championship, he holds the lead heading into the final round. Young’s rounds on the first two days totaled 125, after he carded 13 under. This 36-hole total was the best of his career, and it tied the tournament’s opening 36-hole record Carl Pettersson set in 2008. It was also the second-lowest on the PGA Tour this season, right behind Scottie Scheffler‘s 124 at the 2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And just in case you thought that was impressive, you’re partly mistaken.

Young’s impressive streak also stood out because on the second day, he shot a flawless 8-under and had a bogey-free scorecard, and this equalled his lowest round on Tour since the second round of the 2024 Wyndham Championship. But just before that feat, Young shot a 59 in the 3rd round of the 2024 Travelers Championship, which was just the 13th lowest round in golf in the PGA Tour’s history.

And now, his 5-shot lead heading into Sunday at Sedgefield is in a commanding position that carries historic weight. In the last 40 years, there have been only four instances where a player led by nine or more shots after 54 holes on Tour. Tiger Woods owns three of them, notably at the 1997 Masters (nine-shot lead) and the 2000 U.S. Open (10-shot lead). The point? Being this far ahead going into Sunday is rare, and Cameron Young deserves the praise. Yes, indeed, praise doesn’t always come easy when the win column is empty. But dominance on the course isn’t always measured in trophies.

Cameron Young is one of the richest men without a trophy

While the records tuned to Cameron Young’s name so far indicate that he’s achieved a fair level of success, his financial numbers back it up. Since earning his Tour card in 2022, from the 93 events that Young has played, he’s amassed over $19.1 million in career earnings, averaging more than $206,000 per start. For a player without a single victory, that kind of financial success is not just impressive, it’s nearly unprecedented.

It started at the 2022 Genesis Invitational when Young bagged one of his highest paychecks of over $1 million with his second-place finish. With a similar finish at St.Andrews, Young added another $1.45 million to his bank account and earned $6.5 million in his rookie year on Tour, without a win to show for it. In 2023, he made fewer headlines but still delivered big, as Young had just one runner-up finish at the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay, where he lost to Sam Burns (6&5). But just that finish earned him a jaw-dropping $2.2 million, which accounted for 41% of his earnings that season.

Today, Young sits just outside the PGA Tour’s all-time top 100 in career earnings, alongside names with multiple victories, with Tiger Woods leading at $120 million. But unlike them, he’s done it all without lifting a trophy. That alone says something remarkable about him as a player. Cameron Young doesn’t need a win to prove his greatness. The numbers already do that for him.

Why the criticism Young receives is harsh and unfair

Cameron Young isn’t the first elite golfer to endure a frustrating winless stretch, and he certainly won’t be the last. Even legends have had to battle through long periods of doubt and personal disappointment. Phil Mickelson, for example, didn’t win his first major until he was 34, despite being one of the most talented players of his generation and already a PGA Tour winner in his 20s. Rory McIlroy, a five-time major champion who went more than a decade without a major win, remains one of the most respected and successful figures in the sport. And even Tiger Woods, the greatest of them all, went through a famous 107-week winless drought between 2009 & 2012.

Yet despite that context, Cameron Young has faced a uniquely unforgiving kind of scrutiny. In 2025, during the $20 million Arnold Palmer Invitational, Young’s opening tee shot—a 248-yard misfire—drew open mockery from fans and social media. “He should just focus on TGL where he can let his personality shine,” one fan mocked, and another called him a “walking meme.”  Even at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic, where an errant hook with his driver derailed his Sunday charge, one fan wrote off his performance as a “Big choke,” which eventually became synonymous with his name.

It’s a bizarre standard for a 28-year-old who, despite falling short of a win, has achieved what most pros spend a career chasing — regular contention, top-10s in majors, and nearly $20 million in earnings. Criticism is part of the game, but in Young’s case, it’s become exaggerated and detached from the reality of just how elite his performance truly is. Whether or not Cameron Young finally breaks through at the 2025 Wyndham Championship—and with a five-shot lead, it seems more likely than not—his place among the Tour’s most compelling figures is already secure. Even if he stumbles again, he joins the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, another world-class talent who continues to captivate fans with elite ball-striking and steady contention, despite a still-elusive PGA Tour win.

The fixation on his lack of a win has become a tired and reductive narrative. Young has shown he can hang with the game’s best on the biggest stages, from the Open at St Andrews to the back nine on Sunday at Augusta. Week after week, year after year, he puts himself in the conversation—an accomplishment in itself in today’s hyper-competitive Tour landscape. His consistency and mental resilience make him one of the most complete players in the game. It’s time the golf world shifts the conversation—from ‘why hasn’t he won yet?’ to ‘how good is he that he’s always in position to?’ Whether or not he lifts the trophy today, Cameron Young deserves the respect of a champion.