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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Cameron Young summed up TPC Sawgrass with one word: tricky.
It's a place that has had Young's number. In four previous starts at the Players Championship, he made three cuts, but his best finish among those was T-51. That's likely to change this week.
Young sits in solo second after the morning wave, trailing Xander Schauffele by a shot, after a 5-under 67 on Friday.
"I feel if you're not decisive, if you're unsure of what you want to do, it can really kind of rear its head at you," Young said of the Pete Dye Stadium Course. "So I feel like we did a really good job of just knowing what our goal was."
Young had six birdies on Friday, moving him to 9 under for the week and continuing a trend of recent strong play. After a T-55 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month, he finished T-7 at the Genesis Invitational and T-3 last week at Bay Hill. This week, he's contending once again.
"I feel like it was a really good time to kind of reset and know that you got a hard stretch of golf coming up, and there's no reason to really have any expectations," Young said of his recent play. "It's so much more about being ready for a battle. I feel like I've done a good job of that those last few weeks."
Young has been in a battle with TPC Sawgrass, admitting there were certain tee shots he has struggled with over the years. Visually, the layout challenged him and didn't allow him to be his best.
Young, now 15th in the world and with one PGA Tour win under his belt, is fighting back. And with higher expectations for himself this year after a career 2025, Young is so far living up to the expectations.
"I feel like we keep building belief in what we do and not just how I'm hitting it on a day-to-day basis," Young said. "I feel like (caddie) Kyle (Sterbinsky) and I have done a lot of hard work on just our preparation and our planning and how we approach playing golf out here, and I think continuing to focus on that is really our focus over the next few weeks."
After his stellar performance in the Ryder Cup last fall, in addition to his first win, Young admitted his goals and mindset have shifted going into this season. He wants to win major championships and compete in golf's biggest events.
Through 36 holes at the Players, Young is right in the conversation.
"The goal was to put myself in contention as much as I can so that I can be as comfortable as possible, hopefully late on a Sunday late at Augusta," Young said. "But, yeah, we play so many big events between the start of the season and there that it really is what I just said; it's just trying to put myself in contention as much as possible and getting myself comfortable for the start of the major season."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Players 2026: Cameron Young contenting at 'tricky' TPC Sawgrass
Continue reading...
It's a place that has had Young's number. In four previous starts at the Players Championship, he made three cuts, but his best finish among those was T-51. That's likely to change this week.
Young sits in solo second after the morning wave, trailing Xander Schauffele by a shot, after a 5-under 67 on Friday.
"I feel if you're not decisive, if you're unsure of what you want to do, it can really kind of rear its head at you," Young said of the Pete Dye Stadium Course. "So I feel like we did a really good job of just knowing what our goal was."
Young had six birdies on Friday, moving him to 9 under for the week and continuing a trend of recent strong play. After a T-55 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month, he finished T-7 at the Genesis Invitational and T-3 last week at Bay Hill. This week, he's contending once again.
"I feel like it was a really good time to kind of reset and know that you got a hard stretch of golf coming up, and there's no reason to really have any expectations," Young said of his recent play. "It's so much more about being ready for a battle. I feel like I've done a good job of that those last few weeks."
Young has been in a battle with TPC Sawgrass, admitting there were certain tee shots he has struggled with over the years. Visually, the layout challenged him and didn't allow him to be his best.
Young, now 15th in the world and with one PGA Tour win under his belt, is fighting back. And with higher expectations for himself this year after a career 2025, Young is so far living up to the expectations.
"I feel like we keep building belief in what we do and not just how I'm hitting it on a day-to-day basis," Young said. "I feel like (caddie) Kyle (Sterbinsky) and I have done a lot of hard work on just our preparation and our planning and how we approach playing golf out here, and I think continuing to focus on that is really our focus over the next few weeks."
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After his stellar performance in the Ryder Cup last fall, in addition to his first win, Young admitted his goals and mindset have shifted going into this season. He wants to win major championships and compete in golf's biggest events.
Through 36 holes at the Players, Young is right in the conversation.
"The goal was to put myself in contention as much as I can so that I can be as comfortable as possible, hopefully late on a Sunday late at Augusta," Young said. "But, yeah, we play so many big events between the start of the season and there that it really is what I just said; it's just trying to put myself in contention as much as possible and getting myself comfortable for the start of the major season."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Players 2026: Cameron Young contenting at 'tricky' TPC Sawgrass
Continue reading...
