Cameron Young’s 2026 campaign reads like a statistical contradiction: two major wins (Players Championship and Cadillac Championship), 19 out of 19 cuts made, 2nd in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings, 4th in the FedEx Cup rankings—yet only 10 top-25 finishes. It is an oddly low total for someone with his ranking and form. That gap between elite status and inconsistent week‑to‑week results has fueled frustration, especially over the last month. The reason for that: poor putting.

“My level of frustration has been pretty high for four or five weeks. Yesterday I felt it less because I played okay but putted poorly and finished in positions that I feel are unacceptable, to be brutally honest. Yeah, I’d say it was almost less yesterday actually than maybe some other days because I did get off to an awful start. I could have just shot 77 and ended my tournament, but I didn’t. I fought back and shot even par,” Cameron Young said after the second round at the Tour Championship.

“While that was in last place, I don’t feel it was that bad. Yeah, it’s been high, and I think yesterday was maybe not as high as you would have expected.”

After a solo second at The Open 2026, Young took two weeks off, then returned at the Rocket Classic—the start of a four-tournament collapse.

His T8 finish at the Rocket Classic frustrated him because he had not won, as he revealed at the Detroit event. Still, it was better than his finishes in the events that followed: T61 at the Wyndham Championship, T39 at the St. Jude Championship, and T37 at the BMW Championship.

So, comparatively, yesterday’s round of even-par 70 didn’t feel that bad to him. In fact, as Young noted, he did well to cover up after an awful start. After starting three-over through five holes, Young birdied three holes to salvage even par.

While he finished tied for 29th, basically the last position since JJ Spaun withdrew, his driving game was top-notch yesterday. His average drive was 339 yards, and his longest was 368. It was his putting and approach that led to the even-par round.

However, his second round told a different story: an eight-under 62, and it could all be thanks to playing solo.

“Yeah, from a mental perspective, good golf fixes just about everything. Yeah, like I said earlier, playing by yourself, it’s strange for a second. Kind of when you see the pairing, it’s strange; and then once you get into it, like I said, you don’t have to wait. You don’t have to rush. You can kind of just do everything you’d like to do the whole day. So it’s easy in that sense,” Young said when asked if the weirdness of playing solo helped him overcome frustration.

The second round featured only one bogey on the par-four 12th. Young also hit seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18th. He made an impressive 41-feet-and-seven-inch putt to score that eagle. Currently, he’s tied for second place with Akshay Bhatia and Scottie Scheffler.

Cameron Young’s eight-under 62 has provided a much-needed response to the frustration that had built up over recent weeks. But it is more about how he carries this momentum into the weekend, as it could also affect his position in the Player of the Year race.