Cameron Young’s reaction to one shot was visceral. PGA Tour winner Young, who finished second seven times before breaking through, entered the St. Jude Championship on the heels of a T61 finish, and Saturday, at the par-5 16th, he hit a shot so frustrating it left him nauseated. While he couldn’t turn in a stronger result this time either, he got his chance to redo it Sunday, making up for that shot on the same hole.
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“The same shot I hit on No. 14 yesterday. It’s remarkable. It just makes me want to vomit. Literally vomit,” he said on Saturday after taking the shot in question.
Despite that reaction, the 29-year-old managed to avoid a bogey and carded a par on the hole. Young had already gotten off to a rough start, making a bogey on the opening hole.
That was followed by two birdies, a double bogey and another bogey, leaving him with a 2-over 72. The result was even more frustrating given that he had shot 1-under in each of the previous two rounds. So, when Young stepped onto the course Sunday, his goal was simple: don’t screw up the 16th hole.
After making three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey, Young finally arrived at the 511-yard par-5. His drive traveled 315 yards into the left fairway, while his 198-yard approach landed on the left side of the green, leaving him 9 feet 8 inches from the hole. He then two-putted for birdie.
“It’s a real golf shot,” the hot mic caught Young saying, prompting laughter from the commentators.
Young went on to close his final round with an even-par 70, finishing tied for 39th at the tournament. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler went on to win the event, closing with a 4-under 66 for a 17-under total and an eight-stroke victory over runner-up Si Woo Kim. It was his 21st career PGA Tour title.
Despite his own disappointing finish, Young will move on to next week’s BMW Championship at St. Louis, thanks to his No. 3 position in the FedExCup standings. This comes after Cameron Young reflected on the several near misses this season.
Cameron Young opens up about not winning more
Young’s 2026 season has been filled with both triumphs and near-misses. The 29-year-old has already secured two victories, but several strong positions have slipped away, including a runner-up finish at The Open Championship. Speaking about the difficulty of failing to convert opportunities, Young admitted that the experience can wear on a player.
It’s not the first time Young has talked through a same-hole recovery. At the 2024 Valspar Championship, he let the par-3 15th “get” him one round, then went back the next day in similar conditions and got it right. He called it a personal win, regardless of the outcome.
“That’s kind of the main difficulty of golf,” Young said. “Anytime you feel like that, it’s difficult to some extent. You wonder, ‘Am I missing something? Why is this the way that it is? Why is it not working?’”
Despite the setbacks, Young believes such periods are simply part of the game. He explained that golfers must remain prepared for both good and bad stretches.
“You kind of have to be ready for either one,” he said. “At some point, it’s going to get harder, and at some point you’ll come out of that difficult period, and it will feel easy again.”
Whether that one hole means anything is really the question hanging over Young’s season. A clean birdie on a hole that rattled him a day earlier is small, but it’s the kind of detail that separates players who break through from those who keep circling the same result. The BMW Championship at Bellerive Golf Course (Aug. 20–23) will be the next test of whether that composure carries over.