Cameron Young could make a big splash by making the PGA Championship his first PGA Tour title.
TULSA, Okla. – With an eagle at 17, Cameron Young shot 3-under 67 on Saturday and vaulted into fourth place at 5-under 205, four strokes behind 54-hole leader Mito Pereira, heading into the final round of the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
Young, 25, is having a breakout season as a rookie, notching three runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, the most of any player. The new father of a son, Henry, could make an even bigger splash by making the PGA Championship his first Tour title.
Here are five things to know about Young, who was ranked No. 501 in the world at the end of 2020 and entered the week ranked No. 38 in the world.
TULSA, Okla. – Mito Pereira’s journey to the 54-hole lead at the 104th PGA Championship took an interesting detour during his teen years.
As a 14-year-old, the native of Santiago, Chile, moved to Florida to attend IMG Academy. He was considered a promising star after finishing runner-up at the Boys 10-11 division at the 2006 Optimist International Junior Golf Championship and winning the 12-13 division of the same tournament in 2008. But after six months at IMG Academy, Pereira quit golf for two years.
“I got tired off it,” he said in a February interview with Golfweek. “I quit and just played other sports for a while – dirt bike, soccer and tennis. One day, I wanted to play golf again and I came back. It’s that simple.
“I just needed that break. It was good to have at that age. I knew I was going to play golf but not at that time.”
Asked on Friday after shooting 64 at the PGA Championship, what he would have said if somebody said to him at the time that he quit the game that he’d be contending in a major championship, Pereira answered, “That you’re crazy.”
“No, I mean, I took the two years off but when I came back I just – I knew I could do it, I knew I could get to here, and I just kept the confidence, and obviously there were some up and downs but really happy to be here,” he added.
Mito Pereira looks on during the third round of the 2022 NCAA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
Once Pereira recommitted himself to golf, he won his first professional tournament in Chile as a 17-year-old amateur. He played for one season at Texas Tech, finishing eighth in the Big 12 conference championship at Southern Hills in 2015, before turning pro.
His road to the PGA Tour included stops on PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the Korn Ferry Tour before earning a battlefield promotion with three victories during the 2020-21 season. Upon making his PGA Tour debut this season in Napa at the Fortinet Championship, he said, “I think everybody wants to play here. Since I was probably 4 years old, 5 years old I’ve wanted to play here. And I’m here right now and played pretty well, so I’m like, it’s not like real, you know? I’m here, but you always get here and you want more and I want to win. You know, it’s life, everybody wants more, but I’m pretty happy here.”
On Sunday, Pereira carries a three-stroke advantage into the final round of the PGA and a chance to claim that first win he covets. It’s quite a long ways from quitting the game for two years as a teen.
Everything you need to know for the final round of the PGA Championship.
It’s time to crown a winner in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the 104th PGA Championship.
Mito Pereira is 18 holes away from making his first PGA Tour title a major one. The 27-year-old Chilean rolled in a 27-foot birdie putt at 18 to shoot 1-under 69 at Southern Hills and take a 3-stroke lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris heading into the final round.
Tiger Woods, however, won’t be around for Sunday’s action. He withdrew Saturday night a few hours after shooting a 79.
Hopefully, Eamon Lynch writes, each turn of the calendar between Tulsa and St. Andrews leaves him a little stronger physically, a little sharper professionally, and a little more able to shape whatever his new reality is destined to be.
Here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the PGA Championship. All times ET.
Mito Pereira, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris and Cameron Young are all chasing their maiden win.
TULSA, Okla. – Mito Pereira is 18 holes away from making his first PGA Tour title a major one.
The 27-year-old Chilean rolled in a 27-foot birdie putt at 18 to shoot 1-under 69 at Southern Hills and take a 3-stroke lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris heading into the final round of the 104th PGA Championship.
With a 54-hole aggregate of 9-under 201, Pereira became the first player to hold the outright 54-hole lead in his PGA Championship debut since John Daly in 1991. The Chilean isn’t the only pro in contention seeking to become the first player since Shaun Micheel in 2003 to make the PGA Championship his first win on Tour.
None of the top four on the leaderboard – Englishman Fitzpatrick, and a pair of former Wake Forest teammates in Zalatoris and Cameron Young – have won a single PGA Tour title let alone a major.
Mito Pereira is the first player since John Daly in 1991 to hold the outright 54-hole lead in their PGA Championship debut. 👏👏👏 (via @pgatourcomms) pic.twitter.com/WwjmCVwjG3
With birdies at Nos. 2 and 5, Pereira became the first player in the tournament to reach double-digits-under par. He had made a total of just three bogeys in the first 43 holes, stretched his lead to as many as four, but then proceeded to make four bogeys in a five-hole stretch shrinking his lead to one.
“It was a tough place to be at that moment,” he said.
But Pereira bounced back to play the final six holes in three under to extend his lead to three.
“Any time he got out of position, he made up for it,” Zalatoris said of Pereira. “He had it going sideways probably 7 through 10, and then he righted the ship and made a couple good putts for birdie and hit some great iron shots.
“That was about as solid as he could have played today. Even though he made a few bogeys out there, he really didn’t leave much out there.”
Will Zalatoris plays from the rough on the 7th hole during the third round of the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
Zalatoris, the 36-hole leader, struggled out of the gate with four bogeys in his first seven holes. The Texan didn’t make his first birdie until his 13th hole of the day and signed for 3-over 73.
“I would rather have a frustrating start and good finish,” he said. “It’s good momentum heading into tomorrow.”
Fitzpatrick, the 27-year-old former U.S. Amateur champion, made six birdies on the day, including the last two holes to shoot 3-under 67. He’s won seven times on the DP World Tour and earned a spot alongside Pereira in the final pairing.
“It’s a chance to win,” he said. “I’ll happily go tee off now if we can.”
Alone in fourth place is rookie Cameron Young, the son of a PGA professional, who drove the drove the green at 17, where the tee was moved up to 296 yards, with a 4-wood and poured in the 24-foot eagle putt to shoot 67 and reach 5-under 205.
Asked what it would mean to claim the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday, he said, “I wouldn’t discriminate. If I were to win a major championship, I would take any one of them. This one specifically with my parents here this week would be pretty incredible.”
The heat and humidity of the early week when temperatures reached into the 90s were a distant memory as the mercury dipped into the 50s and players wore beanies and ski gloves.
“It was brutal,” Zalatoris said.
Webb Simpson shot the round of the day, a 5-under 65, to improve to 1-under and T-10, calling it, “probably top two or three best rounds I’ve ever had in a major, you know, considering the conditions.”
“Today was a test of the mind as well as physically because we have a mist out there all day, clubface is getting a little wet, it’s blowing sideways,” he added. “I typically don’t like to play when it’s colder weather, so I surprised myself a bit today.”
Conditions were less than ideal for Tiger Woods, who was 9-over during an eight-hole sequence, and posted 79, 10 strokes worse than Friday and his worst score at the PGA Championship. Woods later withdrew from the championship.
Those still in the trophy hunt are chasing Pereira, ranked No. 100 in the world, who won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour last year to earn a battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour. He entered the week having recorded five top-25 finishes this season, but no top-10 finishes this calendar year. A victory on Sunday would be life-changing in many ways, including to his bank account. The $2.7 million winner’s check would eclipse his total career earnings of $2,618,115. But Pereira didn’t seem too concerned about the fact that he had yet to win on the PGA Tour.
“If you play really good golf during the week, you’re going to win,
“ he said. “Doesn’t matter your first time or your 10th time, if you play really, really well you’re, going to have chances.”
A few hours after his third-round 79 in the 2022 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods bowed out of the tournament.
TULSA, Okla. — Tiger Woods’ body finally said enough was enough.
The 15-time major champion and four-time Wanamaker Trophy winner withdrew from the 104th PGA Championship shortly after play ended Saturday.
Woods mentioned his withdrawal was a possibility after he turned in his worst score—a 9-over 79 after Saturday’s third round—in his PGA Championship career. Woods clearly labored through the round, his right foot, ankle and leg that was severely damaged during a single-car rollover accident 15 months ago.
Woods also had a tough time in the second round when he grinded his way to the weekend with a 69. Woods finished 47th in his return to the game at the Masters.
“Well, I’m sore,” Woods said in Tulsa. “I know that is for a fact. We’ll do some work and see how it goes.” His week ends with rounds of 74-69-79.
Woods would have teed off around 7 a.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) Sunday, with temperatures in the lower 50s.
He has not committed to play in June’s U.S. Open but has said he will play in the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland, where he has won twice.
A 79 left Woods in a tie for 76th place at Southern Hills, occupying the bottom rung of the leaderboard.
TULSA. Okla. — Sporting legends are often condemned to a middle age in which they’re judged against the macro numbers posted during the flush of youth. For Tiger Woods, those past accomplishments cast a lengthy shadow—15 major championship victories, 82 PGA Tour wins, 11 player of the year awards, to cite but a few. Micro numbers matter in as much as he still signs his name below one on a scorecard. Saturday’s micro-moment at the PGA Championship was disheartening if measured against the Woods who won the Tour’s Vardon Award for best scoring average nine times, yet still heartening in the context of Woods today.
A 79 left Woods in a tie for 76th place at Southern Hills, occupying the bottom rung of a leaderboard that he has been atop when it mattered four times. There are ample statistics that explain how he came to be there—dead last in strokes gained tee to green, dead last in strokes gained around the green, making five consecutive bogeys for the first time in his career—but there are no metrics for how he came to be here competing at all.
Heart, grit, pride and determination don’t show up on any performance database, but they were writ large on Woods’ face this week, evident in every grimace as he limped his way through 54 holes. Asked after the round if he will make it 72 holes, he was non-committal.
“Well, I’m sore. I know that is for a fact,” he said. “We’ll do some work and see how it goes.”
His struggles should come as no surprise. Woods has played seven competitive rounds on the PGA Tour in the last 552 days. It’s remarkable that he has played any since almost losing his right leg in a one-car crash 15 months ago. His analysis of Saturday’s 79 was characteristically unvarnished.
“I didn’t do anything right. I didn’t hit many good shots,” he said. “Consequently, I ended up with a pretty high score.”
Seven rounds are insufficient to recapture form after a lengthy layoff, much less after devastating injury, but it has been sufficient to detect promising signs—impressive swing speed, occasional sharpness on and around the greens, the odd day of ball striking. It’s all inconsistent, sure, but still, it’s something to work with. For now.
Earlier this week, Woods assessed his progress since returning to action last month at Augusta National. “I’ve gotten stronger since then. But still, it’s still going to be sore and walking is a challenge. I can hit golf balls, but the challenge is walking. It’s going to be that way for the foreseeable future for sure,” he said.
The process of scraping off the rust, of gauging the corrosion of both body and game, of polishing both to a workable sheen, of testing and trusting and delivering results, requires time. When you’re the greatest player of your (or any) generation, however, fans grow impatient for evidence that you’re still the competitor of old, and increasingly eager for you to achieve the lofty ambitions they hold in your name. Woods seems conscious of that, and perhaps even feels the same way himself.
Tiger Woods and caddie Joe LaCava walk on the first fairway during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Southern Hills Country Club. Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
During his Tuesday press conference, he was asked if he could contend or win at Southern Hills, as he did 15 years ago. “I can, definitely,” he replied quickly. “I just have to go out there and do it.” Whether that is something Woods believes, something he wanted to believe, or something he wants fans to believe, who knows?
Woods won’t win this week and, like everyone else in this field, might not do so ever again. His enviable strength from the neck up cannot entirely compensate for his apparent weaknesses from the neck down.
“It was hurting but I pushed through it. It was more mind than body,” he said a few days ago while discussing his recovery after the Masters. “I said, I’ve won with a broken leg before.”
His past heroics—and that mental fortitude in bouncing back from multiple surgeries—turbocharge assumptions for his future. At a certain point, there will come a subtle shift, from sincere gratitude for Woods’ presence to weightier expectations for his performance.
One hundred nine days elapsed between the hit and giggle with his son at the PNC Championship and the Masters. A further 39 days passed before the PGA Championship. Woods has 26 days until the U.S. Open at The Country Club, then 25 to the Open Championship at the Old Course. With each start, his recovery window will slowly shrink as expectations slowly grow.
Hopefully, each turn of the calendar between Tulsa and St. Andrews leaves him a little stronger physically, a little sharper professionally, and a little more able to shape whatever his new reality is destined to be.
Mito Pereira is playing in his first PGA Championship in 2022 at Southern Hills.
TULSA, Okla. — Mito Pereira is a surprise contender at the 2022 PGA Championship.
For those friendly sports wagerers among us, he’s looking like a great longshot pick, as Tipico had him at +140000 to win at Southern Hills before the tournament started.
But golf fans have been hearing his name for a while. The PGA Tour rookie earned his card after getting promoted from the Korn Ferry Tour in June 2021 via the Three-Victory Promotion, the first to earn that since 2016 and 12th overall.
Pereira, who hails from Santiago, Chile, and grew up playing against Joaquin Niemann, is ranked 100th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Here’s some other stuff you should know about him.
Steele said via Twitter on Saturday that she’s hoping to recover quickly.
ESPN anchor/reporter Sage Steele had finished filming a segment on Friday from the PGA Championship when she decided to pop onto the course and catch the group that included Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler.
Unfortunately, Steele picked an inopportune place along the fairway and Rahm hooked a drive during the second round at Southern Hills Country Club. The Spaniard frantically waved to alert fans the ball was coming, but Steele wasn’t able to heed the warning in time and was struck between her nose and mouth.
Steele was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa after a gruesome scene in which she was seen with her face covered in blood. The anchor, who has been with ESPN since 2007, left the hospital and flew home to be with her family.
She said via Twitter on Saturday that she’s hoping to recover quickly.
“I just want to thank everyone for your concern and prayers during the last couple of days,” Steele said. “I am so grateful. With the help of my team, I hope to recover quickly for my three kids, and get back to work.”
“I was surprised my ball wasn’t in the fairway, and the next thing you know, there’s a little bit of ringing in my head and I was down on the fairway,” Wise told Golf Channel on his way to the parking lot.
“Well, I’m sore. I know that is for a fact. We’ll do some work and see how it goes.”
TULSA, Okla. – A bruised sky, chilly temps and soft ground the result of overnight storms greeted Tiger Woods when he arrived at Southern Hills Country Club for Saturday’s third round of the 104th PGA Championship.
Already in pain before he began his warmup, Woods experienced one of the most dire days he’s ever spent on a golf course as he signed for a 9-over 79. That’s 10 strokes higher than his second-round 69 Friday when he grinded his way to the weekend despite aching from the first tee through the 18th green.
One of the few things on the bright side of matters for Woods was breaking 80. Woods needed to play his final five holes in 1 under and with a birdie on the 15th and four pars, the last coming on a knee-knocker 5-footer on the 18th, the 79 looked a lot better than an 80 in Woods’ eyes. Still, it was the four-time Wanamaker Trophy winner’s highest score in a PGA by two strokes.
Most everything else, however, was miserable. For the first time in a major championship as a pro, Woods made five consecutive bogeys or worse. He made a triple-bogey 6 on the downhill par-3 sixth. He hit two balls into the water. He hit just six fairways and six greens in regulation on a day the thermometer never hit 60 and it really felt like it didn’t hit 50.
And his right foot, ankle and leg – severely damaged 15 months ago in a single-car rollover accident that nearly took his life and had doctors discussing amputation of the right leg – never felt good.
While Woods has a high tolerance for pain, he will get extended treatment and decide whether to play the final round or not.
“Well, I’m sore,” Woods said. “I know that is for a fact. We’ll do some work and see how it goes.”
As for how it went on the golf course, Woods didn’t mince words.
“I just didn’t play well. I didn’t hit the ball very well and got off to not the start I needed to get off to,” he said. “I thought I hit a good tee shot down 2 and ended up in the water, and just never really got any kind of momentum on my side.”
His worst stretch began at the sixth and didn’t stop until he left the 13th green. In eight holes, he made one par – and six bogeys and a triple.
“Well, I couldn’t get off the bogey (or other) train there,” Woods said. “I didn’t do anything right. I didn’t hit many good shots.
“Consequently I ended up with a pretty high score.”
But not his highest in a major. That still remains at 81, which he shot in the third round of the 2002 Open at Muirfield. He also shot 80 in the opening round of the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
While Woods has said many times that his future holds but a few select tournaments a year, and that he loves to compete, Saturday may have him reevaluating his desire to play the final round.
Presently tied for last, Woods would tee off around 7 a.m. local time. While it will be slightly warmer, taking the cautionary route may be a wise decision, especially given how sore his right foot, ankle and leg have felt since he first stepped down in Tulsa on Sunday.
