CROMWELL, Conn. — Unless a tournament decides to build a dome and allow the best players to compete indoors, this venue, TPC River Highlands, is probably the place where you are most likely to see someone shoot a 59. Hell, Jim Furyk shot a 58 here back in 2016. Sixty-fives warrant passing notice. On Friday, there were two 62s, three 63s and five 64s.
But after Cameron Young, 27, birdied his first two holes and then holed a pitching wedge from 142 yards out on the par-4 third hole for an eagle and rolled in a 19-foot putt for a birdie on the fourth to reach 5 under, experienced eyes took notice. After last evening’s rain, and with no wind, the 6,807-yard course was there to be had, and Young certainly obliged, becoming the 12th player in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59.
“I didn’t think about it too much, kind of the middle that have back nine, just because it didn’t really feel like it,” he said afterward. “All of a sudden, like, everything was going in after kind of 10, 11 and 12. Yeah, then it kind of, all of a sudden, I had a putt for 59 on 18, which was a blast.”
Walking outside the ropes and following Young was a man wearing a Sleepy Hollow Golf Club polo shirt and a wide-brimmed hat that protected his face and neck from the sun. David Young, Cameron’s father, was the head professional at Sleepy Hollow for years, but these days, he’s only giving lessons to one student and on Saturday, that pupil didn’t need any help.
“We’ve just been waiting for the dam to break,” he said after walking up the hill from the 18th green. “It’s been a frustrating stretch because he’s been playing so much better than the scores show.”
That may be true, but consider this: In Cameron Young’s last five starts, his best finish was a tie for 34th at the Wells Fargo Championship back in May. He tied for 63rd at the PGA Championship, missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open and tied for 50th at The Memorial. Last week at the U.S. Open, Young shot 73-72-75-75 to finish T-67. Before his 66 on Friday, his 10 previous rounds had all been par or worse and his last round in the 60s was a 69 at the RBC Canadian Open three tournaments ago.
So did he do anything differently this morning that translated into great golf?
“Nope. Woke up, would have preferred to go back to sleep,” he said with a wry grin. “Did exactly what I do every day coming to the golf course. Get a coffee, ate, saw the physio, went out there and warmed up. I didn’t feel particularly awesome, but I chunked a few less on the range than I did yesterday. Then, yeah, I came out and was very comfortable. Things just started coming down close to the hole.”
After Young made a 32-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole for a front-nine 28, the crowds on the 10th tee noticeably grew, and after another birdie on 10, they grew more. A pair of pars on the 11th and 12th holes (where Young’s playing partner Jordan Spieth made birdies) were still greeted with cheers by fans who endured sauna-like conditions Saturday throughout the lunch hour.
“Whenever you play with someone like (Jordan), you get some pretty big crowds,” Young said. “I know not many of them out there started out there for me, but by the end, maybe there were half a dozen that were watching me out there, so it was fun,” he added sarcastically. “I enjoy playing with those crowds and playing with a great player like Jordan.”
Before Saturday, Cameron Young’s lowest score in a PGA Tour event was a 62 at Riviera during the 2022 Genesis Invitational. According to his father, he has never shot a 59 in a casual round either.
A 59, which Young said he didn’t really take seriously while he played, became a very real possibility after his 3-iron on the 280-yard, par-4 15th hole bounced near the front of the green and rolled to within five feet of the hole.
“I’ve hit that (3-iron) everywhere, and I finally hit one just straight at it,” Young said. “I think I said something to the effect of, just give me all the right bounces, and it did. I mean, where that ended up would be a great pitch from the front of the green. So it’s, you know, a really good swing and a great strike, but for it to end up somewhere that you can basically tap it in for two is not likely. You could hit that same shot a hundred more times and you would get two on that plateau right here.”
Young missed a seven-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole before his 9-iron from 161 yards out stopped five feet from the cup to set up his seventh birdie to go along with two eagles.
Father’s Day was six days ago, but David Young got a present from his son on Saturday that he won’t soon forget.
“It’s crazy, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I mean, getting to come out here like this week after week has been a second dream come true. I feel like this is all too good to believe, but it happens.”
