World No.3 Cameron Young has said he "wasn't aware until very recently" the Titleist golf ball he plays would likely conform to proposed new testing guidelines.

A report from Golf Channel on Tuesday claimed "multiple sources" had told it Young's Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot golf ball - the one he's used in all three PGA Tour victories so far - would "very likely" be deemed conforming under the new testing standards, set to be introduced from a pushed back date of 2030.

Golf Channel also revealed sources had told it the Pro V1x Double Dot - which was designed to produce less spin, not to conform to new testing standards - was indeed "tested and conformed under the new conditions." Titleist did not wish to comment on the story when contacted by Golf Monthly.

The tweaked testing conditions which make up the Overall Distance Standard include increasing the club-head speed on the robot to 125mph with an 11-degree launch angle - up from the 120mph club-head speed and 10-degree launch angle which currently exists.

The testing limit for golf balls to travel under the new ODS is set to remain at 317 yards, with up to three yards of tolerance.

A golf ball rollback was proposed in the first place to curb the ever-increasing distance pros are hitting the ball and consequently reduce the environmental impact the game is having on the planet.

However, critics have long argued that focussing on the golf ball is futile and equipment - specifically drivers - is the way forward.

Discussing the report surrounding his own golf ball ahead of this week's PGA Championship at Aronimink, Young shared more detail about why he uses the Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot and when he first tested it.

The current Players champion said: "I think I put it in play the same reason that everybody else plays the ball that they play.

"I hit it during a ball test, one of the Titleist facilities probably close to two years ago and didn't know anything about it and just kind of say, hey, what's that one? Because I liked the flight.

"Then as things progressed, I was able to test it last year at [the Wyndham Championship], able to put that in play, and it's been there since.

"Obviously there is no conforming list. I wasn't aware that it would have -- I suppose I read something that said it passed that test, but I wasn't aware of that until very recently.

"So at no point was that a consideration. It was just really me trying to optimize my golf, and it's the ball that seems to work the best for me."

Since switching to the Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot, which around half a dozen other PGA Tour pros are said to use, Young has picked up his first three PGA Tour victories and remains one of the longest drivers of the ball on tour.

Young finished 17th on the PGA Tour in 2025 with an average of 313.2 yards off the tee while he has begun 2026 with an average driving distance of 312 yards which puts him 27th.

Regardless, the 29-year-old insisted the drop-off in distance since switching golf ball has been minimal and an increased ability to control the spin once away from the tee has truly been the difference in taking that next step in his career.

Asked if he had noticed a dip in his driving statistics as it relates to yardage, Young replied: "Not particularly. I don't think any of us are out here playing the ball that goes the farthest.

"I think you'd struggle to find a single person that's doing that. We're all sacrificing a certain amount of things that we feel are worth it, control with irons, control with wedges.

"For me, that's the biggest thing is being able to control spin, and this is the ball that does the best for me."

Cameron Young’s professional career has been interesting, to say the least.

After turning professional in 2019, he had spells on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the Korn Ferry Tour before graduating to the PGA Tour in 2021.

It didn’t take long for his class to show, with numerous runner-up placings in a hugely impressive first season that finished with him being named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

At that point, a maiden win on the circuit seemed imminent, but instead, it took until the 2025 Wyndham Championship for it to arrive in his 94th PGA Tour start.

Earlier that year, Young’s career had been going backwards, and he even slumped to as low as 67th in the world rankings – until he turned to former Wake Forest University teammate Kyle Sterbinsky as his caddie for the Truist Championship.

Young’s upturn in form can be traced to that event, where he finished T7 before racking up two T4s at the RBC Canadian Open and US Open, with his long-awaited victory finally coming that August.

By the turn of the year, Young, with Sterbinsky’s assistance, was back in the world’s top 20, and the two have taken their success to another level since, as well as claiming some big paydays along the way.

The biggest win of Young’s career came at The Players Championship, while another milestone title came at the inaugural Cadillac Championship for his first victory in a Signature Event.

Other impressive performances included T7 at the Genesis Invitational and ties for third at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Masters.

Caddies typically earn 10% of their boss’s prize money for a win, 7% for a top-10 finish and 5% for other positions after making the cut.

So, assuming those figures are true for Young and Sterbinsky, how much money has the caddie earned this year?

Young’s year began with a T22 at the Farmers Insurance Open, earning $92,640. Of that, Sterbinsky will have picked up an estimated $4,632.

The following month, Young produced a T41 at the WM Phoenix Open. A payment of $34,080 came his way, with Sterbinsky thought to have earned $1,704.

The first Signature Event of the year arrived with the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where Young’s indifferent start to the season continued with a T55. He won $42,000, with Sterbinsky likely earning $2,100.

Sterbinsky’s most lucrative week of the year at that point came at the Genesis Invitational, where Young earned $603,200 for his T7, giving his caddie an estimated $42,224.

Young backed that up with another strong Signature Event performance, with a T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to earn $1,200,000. Of that, it’s thought Sterbinsky will have claimed $84,000.

It got even better for Young with the biggest moment of his career, when he held off Matt Fitzpatrick by one at the PGA Tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship, to win $4,500,000, with Sterbinsky earning $450,000.

Next up was The Masters, where Young’s maiden Major title continued to elude him as playing partner Rory McIlroy claimed back-to-back titles, but he still placed T3 to win $1,080,000, and Sterbinsky likely earned $75,600.

The following week, Young’s run of top 10s ended with a T25 at the RBC Heritage, earning prize money of $142,750, with an estimated $7,137 going into Sterbinsky’s bank account.

That brings us to the Cadillac Championship, where Young dominated the Trump National Doral event to win $3,600,00 in prize money, handing Sterbinksy another big payout, thought to be $360,000.

All that means that, with just over four months of the year behind us, Sterbinksy is estimated to have earned $1,027,397.

For context, if Sterbinsky were a PGA Tour player, that figure would place him 69th on the PGA Tour money list following the Cadillac Championship, one above 2023 US Open winner Wyndham Clark.

Kyle Sterbinsky Earnings 2026

Cameron Young came up short in his battle with Rory McIlroy on the final day of The Masters and had to watch the Northern Irishman claim the title at Augusta National right in front of him.

Going into Sunday, Young had gone level with McIlroy on -11 after three rounds. With the momentum behind the American, many fancied Young to go all the way.

However, a tricky final round, including three bogeys between holes six through nine, cost Young and saw him drop to T3 in the end.

Young was front and center for a moment of golfing history as McIlroy secured back-to-back Masters titles.

By the sounds of it, the pair didn't converse much in the process of that final round - but Young isn't taking it personally.

Speaking in the aftermath of the tournament, Young said: "I'm not one to talk a ton to begin with, and I don't think he really wanted to talk to me.

"Sunday at the Masters in the final group, you know, I don't wish anything poorly on the guy, but we're playing against each other. We're not trying to be best friends out there.

"It's just one of those times that you leave each other be and if there is a moment [you talk] - there were one or two but not many."

This is nothing new for McIlroy, of course. Last year, it was well-documented that McIlroy didn't speak to Bryson DeChambeau during their final round at Augusta.

For Young, it was a case of close but no cigar, but it sounds like the 28-year-old has learned a lot from the experience.

During his interview, he reflected on his performance, adding: "I think I handled it fine, just didn't make anything. That's the story of the week, if you look through all four rounds.

"I feel like I played the golf I needed to. I just didn't have the day making anything at all.

"There is no negative to take away other than obviously I would've loved a different result.

"But in terms of the golf, I played plenty well enough to win today and plenty well enough to win by a couple I think. So it was just one of those days."

Young has already qualified for the 2027 edition of The Masters, and if he plays like he did this weekend, he'll be right up there again next year.

It was a thrilling final day at The Masters this year once again, with Rory McIlroy prevailing once more at Augusta National to secure back-to-back titles.

Despite pressure from Justin Rose, Cameron Young, and a resurgent Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy showed his dominance and wrapped things up on the 18th hole.

While the atmosphere at Augusta was electric, spectators at home complained that the TV coverage was sub-par down the final stretch.

McIlroy took a two-stroke lead into the par-4 final hole, the setting for his victorious playoff moment last year and a hole the Northern Irishman knows all too well.

However, as McIlroy fired his approach shot towards the green from the right trees, the camera operators seemingly lost track of the location of the ball as it dropped into the front-left greenside bunker.

To make the situation worse, the same thing happened with Cameron Young's approach shot just moments earlier.

Fans at home were not happy with the coverage - having been critical of it earlier in the day, too.

One took to Twitter/X to write: “CBS not being able to show the location of the final two approach shots of The Masters is the cherry on top of an all-time horrible broadcast."

Another added: "This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they'll talk about the 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory's ball went."

Meanwhile, Dan Rapaport had his say, adding: "The biggest 10 minutes of the year in our sport and we’ve got no idea where the golf balls are."

The most heinous moment of all, though, was the angle used to show McIlroy's winning putt. Indeed, sitting at home, it was impossible to see whether he had actually sunk the one-footer or not as he was blocking the hole.

That's not McIlroy's fault, of course, and figures in the game were quick to highlight this error.

Ryan Glasspiegel said on social media that he was getting lots of messages about the coverage, writing: "How was CBS Masters production so perfect all weekend then on the 18th they messed up like three things, including losing Rory’s ball on the crucial shot?"

Clay Travis saw the ironic side of things, writing: "Still laughing about CBS having a billion cameras on the 18th hole at the Masters and somehow still missed having any idea where both guys approach shots on 18 went and had a camera shot where you couldn’t see the hole for Rory’s winning putt."

Meanwhile, one fan added: "Very on brand for golf broadcasting that the cameraman lined up in the only place where you couldn’t see if Rory missed the putt. Only the 72nd hole at The Masters, not a huge deal."

Scenes of McIlroy celebrating with family and friends, collecting his Green Jacket, and addressing the patrons made for a delightlful post-round broadcast.

But, CBS will need to learn from its mistakes when The Masters comes around next year.

What did you make of The Masters final round coverage? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cameron Young lit up Augusta National on Saturday to card eight birdies and reel Rory McIlroy in at the top of the leaderboard.

The World No.3 and recent Players Championship winner at TPC Sawgrass made a solitary bogey in his 65, which saw him climb from four-under-par up to 11-under and secure a final round tee time with the defending champion.

Young is 12-under for his last 36-holes, having got off to a slow start on Thursday - and it's his opening to the tournament that is very reminiscent to that of Tiger Woods in his famous 1997 Masters victory.

The New Yorker got a couple of lucky breaks in round three, when his ball kicked off a patron onto the green on 9 and out of the trees back onto the fairway on 13, and perhaps it's written in the stars when you realize he went out in 40 on Thursday.

That score of 40, four-over-par, is the exact same score Woods made in 1997, when he won the Green Jacket at the age of 21 to become the youngest champion in history.

Woods is the only player in Masters history to have shot 40 on the front nine in round one and go on to win.

Young was four-over after 11 holes this week and has played his next 43 holes in 15-under-par. He is also the first player in Masters history to overcome a 36-hole deficit of eight or more strokes to move into a share of the 54-hole lead, having shot 65 to McIlroy's 73 on Saturday.

Another trend Young is looking to continue is that of The Players Champion winning The Masters. It has happened in both 2024 and 2025 with Scottie Scheffler two years ago and Rory McIlroy last time out.

The Ryder Cupper is hoping his experience at TPC Sawgrass, where he pipped Matt Fitzpatrick by a single stroke, will come in handy in the final round.

"I think in my press conference afterward, that really what I was trying to do was get ready to be playing late on Sunday at Augusta," he said.

"Now I'm here with what will be a late tee time on Sunday at Augusta, and that's the best prep I could have asked for.

"I'll try to run much the same process, same mindset as I did that day. I remember I did a great job of just staying where I was, knowing that everybody's going to do some different things throughout the day.

"At some point most people are going to go on a run and most people are going to make a bogey or two. There's no saying when that will be for me, but at the end of the day, you just have to stay kind of in your lane and play the best golf you can and see where you are with a couple holes to go.

"There's not really much you can change before then."

Don't expect to see too much outward emotion from Cam Young, as even though he insisted he was delighted to win The Players Championship, on the outside he looked anything but at TPC Sawgrass.

Golfers come in all shapes and sizes and with all different characters and mentalities, that's the nature of sport, and part of being successful is knowing how to get the best out of your game.

In such a tough mental sport as golf, and on such a mentally taxing course as TPC Sawgrass, it's especially important to play to your strengths.

And for Young that means staying cool, calm and collected and showing as little emotion as he can - even if that meant no smiles, no victory fist pump or any other real celebration even after holing the winning putt at The Players Championship.

"No, I think honestly, I think if you asked my wife, she would say he's a very, very happy person," said Young after winning The Players Championship ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick.

"And I am. I mean, I love my life, I love my family, I love my job. I couldn't ask for much more. I'm healthy. I have healthy little children."

So as he spoke sitting next to the coveted Players Championship trophy, he said his rather stoic demeanour on the golf course was his preferred method to help him play his best golf.

"So I just think it's more for me about I think that's the best way for me to play the best. Now why am I not happy? I am. I don't know. I'm thinking to answer questions and my brain is very tired after playing that golf course for four days. So it takes a lot for me to come up with a reasonable answer.

"But yeah. I think just generally you're not going to get a ton out of me, but it doesn't mean that I'm not, you know, very, very happy to be sitting here with this."

Young did crack an almost smile after smacking that incredible tee shot on the 18th, but he can't recall what the joke was he shared with his caddie.

"Man, what did we say? I have no idea. We were just saying stuff, I think, to just kind of quiet our own minds," said Young.

"In those moments there's a lot running through your head, and for me to have Kyle, one of my best friends, on the bag sitting there, it's a really nice time to have something a little bit lighter in terms of conversation.

"I could have stared at my feet walking all the way down the fairway or we could have looked around and had a little bit of a laugh. I think in the moment option two was a good call."

'I'm never going to be real smiley'

It's about as much positive emotion as you'll see from Young on a golf course, and he says he will usually only break character when he's angry at himself.

"My expression doesn't tend to change that much, except for when I'm very upset," Young added.

"I feel like that's about the only thing you'll get out of me out there. I'm never going to be real smiley, never going to be, you know, kind of outwardly super positive.

"Yeah, today it was mostly that I just was pretty under control. I feel like I kept really good control of my mind, made really good decisions, and it didn't have to work out that I won, but today it did.

"When I am angry I just get mad at myself. You might see a frown. I don't know. Just generally I'm relatively even keel. But if I'm playing well, you're just going to see nothing. If I'm not making too many mistakes you're just not going to get much out of me."

Cameron Young played a blinder on the final day of The Players Championship 2026 and now has a new trophy to his name and has added a healthy sum of money to his career earnings.

Having been three strokes behind Ludvig Aberg heading into Sunday, Young had work to do, but an impressive showing saw him chase down Matt Fitzpatrick on The Players Championship leaderboard.

With a huge prize purse at The Players Championship, Young has bumped his winnings total up significantly. And, he's actually won a fair sum already despite only winning one PGA Tour event prior to this.

After being named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2021-22, Young has taken his career from strength to strength and is currently sitting in 15th place on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).

Way back in the 2018-19 season, he entered the US Open, but missed the cut after going nine-over-par through two rounds. It was a similar story in 2020-21, with Young failing to play the full weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open and the US Open once more.

However, 2022 was a huge year for the American. He pulled in a total of $6,520,598 on the Tour circuit, which is largely due to securing an incredible five runner-up finishes. Young was T2 at Sanderson Farms Championship, earning $623,000, before getting a whopping $1.07m for another T2 at The Genesis Invitational.

In April and May of 2022, Young was tied for third at the RBC Heritage and the PGA Championship, while another T2 at Wells Fargo helped add another $1.88m to his tally from those three events. Another $1.45m came his way in the summer, with a solo second place at The Open Championship.

2023 was pretty good for Young, too, albeit not quite as profitable. He earned $5,392,961 in total, with a huge $2.2m coming from a solo second-placed finish at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Admittedly, Young's earnings decreased each year since that massive breakthrough season.

In 2024, he won $4,057,224 in total. A solo second at the Valspar Championship contributed $915,600 to that sum, while two T9 finishes at The Masters and the Travelers Championship added over $500,000 apiece.

It's worth noting, though, that Young also won roughly $595,431 (after converting from Euros at the current exchange rate) at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic that year, too.

But, he well and truly bounced back in 2025, and even picked up his first win on the PGA Tour. Young won the Wyndham Championship in August of last year to earn $1.48m, while a tie for fourth at the Tour Championship was very fruitful indeed, adding another $2.62m to his year's tally. Young ended 2025 with $8,789,813 in winnings.

So far in 2026, Young had earned another $1,971,920 prior to his successful trip to TPC Sawgrass. He was T3 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which won him a cool $1.2m.

But, after an intense final holebattle in The Players Championship against Matt Fitzpatrick, it was Young who won the day. Winning The Players Championship earns Young another $4.5m, which is by far his biggest individual prize to date.

Overall in his career, Young has now won $31,232,516 on the PGA Tour, plus a further $595,431 on the DP World Tour.

*total includes modern exchange-rate figures

After turning professional in 2019, Cameron Young has become one of the highest-profile PGA Tour players in recent years.

However, even with his big-name status, some golf fans may not have noticed that, throughout his emergence in the professional game, he has worn an MLB logo on his shirt.

In his Korn Ferry Tour days, an MLB patch adorned the left sleeve of his shirt, while nowadays, it has shifted to his right collar.

Regardless of placement, surely the presence of a logo for an entirely different sport’s league, in this case, baseball, is perplexing. So, what is the reason?

In early 2023, Young explained to the No Laying Up podcast that it goes back to his childhood.

New York-born Young’s dad, David, was the head professional at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Westchester County.

As he explained on the podcast, that association led to his family getting to know one of the club’s members, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

He said: "So it started - the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, is a member at Sleepy Hollow. My parents have known them for 20 years, they’re great people.

"When I first turned pro they took us to dinner, and afterward Rob leaned in and said, ‘Would you wear the MLB patch?’ And at the time I had just gotten status or it was just before I got Canada status, so I was nothing - no status anywhere, essentially.

"And so I said ‘absolutely, I’d love to,’ and they’ve been there ever since and they’ve been an awesome partner."

While that partnership seems unusual, Young's not the only PGA Tour pro to have worn the MLB logo - far from it

For example, at the 2025 PGA Championship, as well as Young, Eric Cole and Jhonattan Vegas also donned the MLB emblem, and they’re just the latest in a sizeable list to agree to do it.

Through the years, eagle-eyed golf fans will also have spotted the logo on the shirts of players including Peter Malnati, Adam Long, Brendon Todd, Chez Reavie and Billy Andrade.

Per Golf.com, it all started when sports agent Dave Parker approached the MLB about the idea and negotiated a deal involving his client Shawn Stefani in 2013.

As well as money, the deal gave him free tickets for the Texan's Houston Astros. In return, Stefani entertained MLB sponsors and players.

It appears Malnati had a similar deal. He told Golf.com: "They put a logo on your bag and shirt. They pay you a little bit for the exposure. You do an event or two for them. Take some clients out to play golf. But most importantly, you’ve got a ticket connection. I was really intrigued by that."

So there we have it - Young is nowhere close to being the first player to wear the MLB logo on his shirt. Given players' willingness to do it, it appears a safe bet that there will be more to follow.

Cameron Young needed a stand-in caddie in the first round of the Travelers Championship, and a familiar face stepped up as his dad David carried his son's bag as he shot 65.

Young's regular caddie Kyle Sterbinsky was ill but his 65-year-old father, a recently retired PGA professional, put his hand up to step in and work with his son at TPC River Highlands.

David Young is a regular at PGA Tour events, walking with his son to help him prepare - especially after retiring from his role at Sleepy Hollow Club, so it wasn't too much of a problem for Cameron to deal with.

The only provision made was Young managed to find a smaller carry bag for his dad to use rather than the huge tour bags caddies usually have to lug around.

"He caddied for me for nine holes at Bay Hill a couple years ago, 2022, I believe," Young said of working with his dad again.

"But he's out there all the time, so it's pretty easy."

And on how his dad managed the walk around TPC River Highlands, Young responded: "He hung in there.

"I think that hill on 17 was not his favorite. But he made it, and hopefully don't need him again tomorrow."

Young was spoilt for choice as his mother Barbara has also previously caddied for him when he was younger, and he said "I'm sure she would have liked me to" use her again.

But dad got the nod this time, for what he hopes is just a one-off.

"In theory it would be fun, but I think my dad is just - he walks so many holes with me and knows the game so well that he can be an asset for me out there, where my mom is watching from a little bit farther away usually."

Regular caddie expected for latest title bid

Young is still famously without a first PGA Tour win - having had the RBC Canadian Open at his mercy but for a final hole collapse.

He followed it up with a T4 at the US Open so that first win is surely just around the corner - maybe at the Travelers after his opening 65 - and he expected to have his regular caddie back with him for this latest attempt.

"He was just feeling sick, and I don't want what he has, and I don't want any of my kids to have what he has," Young said of Sterbinsky. "Figured just give him an extra day to recover.

"I'm sure he could have come out here if his life depended on it. But with my dad here and just not wanting to get anybody else sick."

Young shot 59 at the Travelers Championship last year, so after a decent start again he'll hope to finally get over the line and take his name off the list of the best players yet to win on the PGA Tour.

Sometimes frustrations can get the better of us in golf and, sometimes, even the professionals can feel the heat when competing out on the course.

At the Rocket Mortgage Classic, a number of players were vying for the lead, with one of those being Cameron Young, an individual who has seven runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, but is yet to get over the line and pick up a title.

In Detroit, Young was well in the mix, trailing by a single stroke as he tackled the back nine. However, at the par 5 14th, the 27-year-old pulled his tee shot left and, in a moment of frustration, the American leant on his driver, causing it to break and be out of play for the rest of the event...

Known as one of the longer drivers on the PGA Tour, averaging 306.6 yards and sitting 31st in the Driving Distance standings, Young's driver was not usable after his caddie confirmed it had snapped.

Although he would lose some distance with the driver out of the bag, he did pound his 3-wood 303-yards on the 16th and then 287-yards on the 17th, but a short missed bogey putt on the 16th hole dropped him out of contention.

At the time, many wondered whether Young could replace his driver. Well, under Rule 4.1: "A player is allowed to keep using and/or to repair any club damaged during the round, no matter what the damage and even if the player damaged it in anger."

The rule also states: "A player is not allowed to replace a damaged club, except when it is damaged during the round by an outside influence or natural forces, or by someone other than the player or his or her caddie".

With the break happening on the Sunday of the tournament, it is unlikely that Young would have been able to grab an identical shaft to the one he uses, especially as the Tour trucks would have headed home from Detroit and on to the next event.

It seems that a score of 59 is becoming more and more regular on the professional circuit and, at the Travelers Championship, yet another player added their name to the roll of honor, as Cameron Young carded the magical number during his third round.

Finding two eagles and seven birdies, it is just the 13th 59 in PGA Tour history, as Young joins the likes of Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos, Stuart Appleby, Jim Furyk, Justin Thomas, Adam Hadwin, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Chappell and Scottie Scheffler.

Rather amusingly, despite firing a 59 at TPC River Highlands, the 11-under-par round is technically not the course record as, famously back in 2016, Furyk carded a 12-under 58.

Starting his day at two-under for the tournament, Young was some 11 shots back of overnight leader, Tom Kim, and despite scoring being notoriously low round this course, it would need a big day for the 27-year-old to jump up the leaderboard.

However, birdies at the opening two holes was then followed up by a 142-yard hole-out for eagle at the third, with Young then birdieing the fourth to sit five-under through the first four.

Although a disappointing run of three pars followed, he birdied the eighth and ninth for a seven-under 28, as Young then made three more pars to start his back nine. From here, he would need to be four-under through his final six for a 59... 

Birdieing the reachable par 5 13th, a par at the 14th was then followed by an incredible tee shot at the driveable par 4 15th, with Young rolling in the five-footer for eagle and now just needing one more birdie to get to 11-under.

At the par 3 16th, he put his tee shot to eight-foot, but his birdie attempt was weak as it missed on the low side. On the next hole, though, he made up for it, as Young's second shot finished six-foot away, with his putt equally confident.

A par down the last would put him in the history books and, after just missing the fairway bunker with his tee shot, Young could only put his wedge shot short. Striking a poor chip to 10-feet, the final shot would be a knee-knocker for the 27-year-old. Stepping up, his putt didn't look anywhere else, as it found the centre of the cup for the magical 59.

Moving to 13-under, Young managed to get into a share of the lead with Kim, who still had half-an-hour to go before his third round even got started!

 In the early hours of Friday morning, a traffic accident occurred outside the venue for the PGA Championship, Valhalla, which delayed the start of play by 1hr 20mins.

It was later confirmed in a statement released by the PGA of America, that, tragically, a vendor had been killed in the incident. 

While that news is sure to put everything into perspective as the Major continues, there were further repercussions, most notably when it emerged that one of the favorites for the tournament, Scottie Scheffler, had been arrested on his way to the course, supposedly following a misunderstanding regarding traffic flow after the accident.

As traffic built up, other players struggled to reach the venue, too, including two of the biggest names in the field, Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris, who were filmed walking around half a mile from Valhalla in the rain towards the venue ahead of the day’s play.

Young was in the second group to go out at Valhalla, with the American playing alongside fellow PGA Tour pro Rickie Fowler and LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm, with a revised teatime of 9.57am ET (2.57pm BST).

Meanwhile, Zalatoris, who missed most of last year after undergoing back surgery, didn’t have much longer to prepare. He got his second round underway alongside Patrick Cantlay and Camillo Villages, with a new tee time of 10.19am ET (3.19pm BST).

Later, it emerged Zalatoris, Young and Austin Eckroat walked two miles to the course. The Athletic's Gabby Herzig wrote on X: "Just spoke to Will Zalatoris who says he walked two miles to make it to the course this morning with Cam Young and Austin Eckroat. Took them over two hours to make it inside the gates. Was very critical of the set-up for entry this week—he even told his parents on Monday not to come because it was such a mess. “I’m not happy I was proven right.”

Earlier, Scheffler was placed into handcuffs and detained in the back of a police car and later charged with "second-degree assault of a police office, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic."

For a time, his continuing participation in the tournament appeared in doubt, but he was eventually released and got his second round underway at his revised tee time of 10.08am ET (3.08pm BST).

Earlier, the PGA of America released a statement confirming the fatality in the accident had been a vendor. It read: "This morning we were devastated to learn that a worker with one of our vendors was tragically struck and killed by a shuttle bus outside Valhalla Golf Club.

“This is heartbreaking to all of us involved with the PGA Championship. We extend our sincere condolences to their family and loved ones.”

Cameron Young's second-place finish at the 2024 Valspar Championship helped him set a new record for most runner-up results on the PGA Tour without a win.

Young has now claimed silver on seven separate occasions since joining the US-based circuit in 2022, the highest number without lifting a title since 1983.

Colin Montgomerie and Briny Baird previously held the record after both managing six near misses without putting their name to a PGA Tour title.

The supremely talented 26-year-old has long been known as one of the best drivers of the golf ball but has regularly been unable to creep over the finish line on the PGA Tour despite putting himself in plenty of strong positions.

Young has made the cut in all nine events he has teed it up in this season, finishing third in his lone DP World Tour start (Hero Dubai Desert Classic) and T4 at the Cognizant Classic.

He has won over $14 million in total prize money, however, and has two victories on the Korn Ferry Tour in his professional trophy cabinet, so it's not all bad.

On Sunday, the Wake Forest Alum began the day three shots back of leader Keith Mitchell before steadily tip-toeing his way through a chaotic leaderboard to move into a share of top spot alongside eventual champion Peter Malnati late on.

With two holes to play and an 18-foot birdie putt in front of him, Young had a chance to put his name on the trophy. Yet, after a missed attempt from the Scarborough-born player and birdie from Malnati in the group behind, momentum began to slide away.

An untimely pulled drive on 18 all but put the final nail in Young's chances of success, as - despite a brilliant recovery shot out of the trees - he three-putted from around 50 feet for a 72nd-hole bogey.

Post-round, Young admitted it was "a bad time for a bad one" - referring to his pulled drive - and that "I realized I wasn't going to win pretty quickly" during the last two holes but said that he was proud of the way he handled the day from a psychological point of view.

Young said: "I think I kept myself in it mentally really well today. I hit a couple shots I was really proud of late.

"Those two par-3s on the back, both kind of can bite you. I kind of let 15 get me yesterday, in a similar situation, similar wind and everything. So I was proud of that shot, just making sure it didn't bite me.

"But I think I handled my own thoughts really well and, for me, that's a big win regardless of the outcome."

Unfortunately for Young, there is no exact pattern to his shortcomings as the cluster of second-place results have arrived across a variety of different course styles in four consecutive seasons.

Before the 2024 Valspar Championship, the 26-year-old had secured a runner-up spot at: the 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship, the 2022 Genesis Invitational, the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship, The 2022 Open Championship, the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic, and the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

The list of players he has lost to is nothing to be ashamed of either, with Sam Burns (twice), Joaquin Niemann, Max Homa, Cameron Smith, Tony Finau, and Malnati just pipping Young to the post.

Despite Young's seemingly endless misfortune, he can console himself with the fact that he does not hole the outright record for most second-place finishes without a victory. England's Oliver Wilson was 'assistant to the regional manager' nine times - including four occasions in one season (2008) - before finally securing top spot.

After 228 European Tour starts, the 2008 Ryder Cup player eventually reeled in the big fish at the 2014 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - a tournament he only played after receiving a sponsor's invite.

Following a tumultuous period in which Wilson reportedly considered quitting the sport altogether, he went on to bag a second European Tour crown at the 2022 Made In Himmerland, beating Scotland's Ewan Ferguson by a single shot.

Playing on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, Young will hope his debut success arrives quickly and before another few near misses so that Wilson keeps his long-standing record.

Cameron Young is arguably one of the best players on the planet who hasn't won a PGA Tour event. As of writing, the American has produced six runner-up finishes and come close on multiple occasions, so could a recent equipment change make the difference?

Currently, Young sits in a tie for 15th at the Valspar Championship going into Saturday, with a recent equipment change catching the eye of those watching, specifically around a club that you rarely see... 

Known as one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, averaging 315.7 yards off the tee during 2022 - 23, Young has been spotted using an all-new Titleist TSR 2-wood prototype club, something which came into the bag at last week's Players Championship.

Speaking to GolfWRX, Titleist Tour rep, J.J. Van Wezenbeeck, stated: “We had some discussion with Cam Young that he was looking for something that was a little more optimized off the tee. So, Tom Bennett – who’s the principal engineer for our fairway woods and hybrids – spoke with him. He had designed some internal prototypes of 2-woods in the past, and we went through a discussion of what type of volume (size) we would be looking for, what type of loft we would be looking for, and what type of performance.

“(Young) was looking for a certain ball speed and yardage gap from his driver. One of the things for him with the 3-wood is he wanted something with a little more volume that he felt more confident off the tee with, so he was looking for a little bigger footprint and something that was a little bit more penetrating than some of the 3-woods he’s played in the past. This will be a club he’ll hit 90 percent off the tee, versus the ground, so for the golf courses that set up for that, that’s what he’s looking for.”

Providing ball speed that is eight-to-ten miles per hour less than his driver, the 2-wood has a larger head profile compared to the TSR2 and TSR3 fairway woods. Along with the taller face and bigger head, the shaft is the same as Young's driver shaft - Mitsubishi Tensei 1K.

As previously reported, the 2-wood actually appeared on the USGA Conforming List at The Players Championship, but it is unclear as to whether it will make it to retail yet. What we do know is that Young also changed his golf ball midway through 2023, with the American opting for the 'Left Dot (Titleist) Pro V1', rather than the Pro V1x.

Cameron Young What's In The Bag?

Cameron Young has had an eventful start to his PGA Tour career. While still awaiting his first win going into the 2025 season, the American has racked up numerous runner up finishes and has made a big splash in several Major Championships without quite having been able to get it over the line. Young is currently a Titleist staff player and plays a full bag of clubs from the brand including a golf ball. What are the exact specifications? Let's take a look at the clubs he will be using as he attempts to make 2025 his year.

Cameron Young What's In The Bag?

Driver

What Driver Is Cameron Young Using?

Young had been using a Titleist TSR3 driver with 9 degrees of loft in the D1 SureFit setting with a Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX shaft. For 2025 he has kept the same set up but switched the head into the new GT 2 model that has gone into the bag of several Titleist staff players this year. 

Titleist has stepped up its game in terms of forgiveness throughout the entire GT range and the GT2 is no exception. The retention of ball speed particularly when struck low on the face is very impressive and the clean looks will please Titleist loyalists everywhere. The technology behind the improved feel and acoustics is sure to make this a very popular model.

Fairway Woods

What Fairway Wood Does Cameron Young Use? 

Young has switched things up in his fairway woods department this year. He began 2024 carrying two Titleist fairway woods, one of which was a TSR2+ model which acts as his three-wood, and then a regular TSR2 as his five-wood. The Plus version was a new addition to the Titleist TSR wood family and was designed as an option for those who want a fairway wood as predominantly a second driving option, it is being billed as a longer, more forgiving, tee-biased 3-wood.

Currently though Young is using only a 3-wood, which is a 13.5 degree GT2 fairway fitted with Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX shafts. The refined shape and construction of the GT2 will make this an extremely popular club among professional and amateur golfers alike this year. The powerful launch characteristics club makes it a perfect alternative from the tee while still landing relatively softly into greens when hit from the turf.

Irons

What Irons Does Cameron Young Use?

The American’s iron setup is very interesting at the moment as he is one of golf’s biggest tinkerers. He has ditched a fairway wood in favor of a T350 driving iron. In addition, Young carries a Titleist T200 4 iron as well as a Titleist T100 five-iron, before transitioning into a set of Titleist 631.CY prototype irons (from six-iron down to nine-iron). These replace the Titleist 620MBs he gamed previously, and they are all fitted with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts.

Wedges

What Wedges Does Cameron Young?

Young uses four Titleist wedges at the moment. His first three, 48, 52 and 58 degrees, are all Vokey SM10 wedges after he made the move from Vokey SM9s in 2024. He also carries a WedgeWorks BV 2022 Proto with 62 degrees of loft. As with his irons, these are fitted with Dynamic Gold shafts. Vokey wedges are the most played on the professional tours and the SM10 is arguably the best wedge out there currently. The SM10 has been designed to fly lower and spin more than the SM9 and is definitely in the conversation for the best golf wedges, while also being one of the best wedges for chipping.

Putter

What Putter Does Cameron Young Use?

His final club in the bag is a Scotty Cameron T5 Prototype. It appears to have a mallet kind of design with a plumbers neck and it appears he carries a grey version as well as a black design. We think the grey version is his usual gamer when competing. 

Ball

What Ball Does Cameron Young Use?

Young uses the 2023 version of the Titleist Pro V1 golf ball which earned the full five stars in our review, largely thanks to its added consistency in the long game. 

Apparel & Shoes

What Shoes Does Cameron Young Wear?

Young is currently wearing the FootJoy HyperFlex Carbon golf shoes which, again, was awarded the full five stars by our reviewer. The HyperFlex Carbon is of the most well-rounded spiked golf shoes of recent memory and excels thanks to the superb stability it offers as well as the class-leading midsole that provides instant and long-lasting comfort.

Cameron Young WITB: Full Specs

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, D1 SureFit setting) with Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX shaft

3-wood: Titleist GT2 (13.5 degrees, B1 SureFit setting) with Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX shaft

Irons: Titleist T350 Driving Iron, Titleist T200 (4-iron), Titleist T100 (5-iron), Titleist 631.CY prototype (6-9) all with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 130 X shafts

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 58-08M), WedgeWorks BV 2022 Proto (62) all with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 130 X shafts

Putter: Scotty Cameron T5 Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Shoes: FootJoy HyperFlex Carbon

Cameron Young turned pro in 2019 and, since then, has become one of the best players on the PGA Tour. Discover more about his life and career in the game so far via these facts.

CAMERON YOUNG FACTS

1. His full name is Cameron David Young.

2. Young was born in Scarborough, New York on May 7, 1997.

3. His father David Young was the head professional at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Westchester County, New York for 20 years before retiring. That's how Cameron was introduced to the game.

4. Several other members of Young's family grew up around golf, with his mom playing golf and his aunt working as a teaching professional.

5. Young defeated some of the best juniors in the country to win the 2014 AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.

6. Young was a member of both the 2014 Junior Ryder Cup team and Junior World Cup team. At the former, he helped the USA win 16-8. He played in three matches, winning 1.5 points, including a victory alongside fellow PGA Tour professional Davis Riley.

7. Young made it to the second round of the 2015 US Amateur, losing to Jon Rahm.

8. He won two professional events while still an amateur - the 2017 New York State Open and the 2018 Westchester Open.

9. Young attended Wake Forest University, a school famous for its college golf program. While there, he studied Economics before graduating in 2019.

10. As a freshman, in 2015, he won the US Collegiate Championship and the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational, becoming the first Demon Deacon to win twice during the fall season since Bill Haas in 2002-03.

11. Young made his US Open debut after earning medalist honors in the Purchase, N.Y., sectional qualifier. He shot 75-76 at Pebble Beach in 2019 to miss the cut.

12. Young thought he had broken into the professional game after coming through PGA Tour Canada's Q-School in 2020. However, after Covid shut much of the world down, he was left battling it out on mini tours and Monday qualifiers. Eventually, Young qualified for a Korn Ferry Tour event in Omaha and managed to string a few good results together which allowed him to earn special temporary status there.

13. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021, with his titles at the AdventHealth Championship and Evans Scholars Invitational coming in back-to-back weeks at the end of May.

14. Young earned his first PGA Tour card with a 19th-place finish on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List.

15. He was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2021/22 season.

16. Young is a Titleist golf ambassador and plays a full bag of clubs from the brand. He also uses a Titleist Pro V1x Prototype golf ball.

17. He is married to Kelsey Dalition, with the pair tying the knot in 2020.

18. At the 2024 Travelers Championship, Young shot 59 during round three to record the 13th-sub 60 round in PGA Tour history.

19. His home course in Florida is The Dye Preserve, which boasts a number of professional golfers as members. Corey Conners, Joaquin Niemann, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Pendrith and Chase Koepka all play there.

20. He plays for New York Golf Club in TGL alongside teammates Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rickie Fowler.

21. Young made his Presidents Cup debut for Team USA in 2022. He recorded 1.5 points from four matches.

22. After 93 previous attempts and seven runner-up finishes, Young won his maiden PGA Tour event at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. The victory gave him the honor of becoming the 1,000th unique winner on the PGA Tour.

23. As a youngster, he would play ice hockey and baseball to give himself a break from golf.

24. Young is sponsored by the MLB because his parents have known commissioner Rob Manfred for over 20 years as a result of their memberships at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club.

25. He made his Ryder Cup debut for the US in 2025 and was one of the key members of Keegan Bradley's side, winning three points from four matches - including a 1up success over Justin Rose in the Sunday singles.

26. Young won The Players Championship in 2026 to move up to a career-high fourth in the world. He has since edged even higher, sitting third behind only Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.

CAMERON YOUNG BIO

CAMERON YOUNG PRO WINS

After play was suspended on Friday afternoon at The Masters, players returned to the golf course at 8.00am on Saturday to complete their second rounds. However, it wasn't going to be easy, with temperatures dropping over 10°C and the rain pounding Augusta National.

One of the players who was in contention, that had to return, was Cameron Young, with the American level-par for his round and five-under for the tournament. As he made his way onto the course, the 25-year-old birdied the 10th, with two more birdies, one bogey and one double bogey meaning he ended the day in exactly the same place as where he started it, five-under.

Asked about the conditions, Young had a relatively blunt and sarcastic response, stating: "Oh, it was easy. Greens were soft. It was nice and warm.

"Yeah, I mean it's basically impossible. I don't really know what you're supposed to do. It's playing so long. 

"I mean, I hit a great shot on 18, I think it landed in a puddle. So it's hard. But I played well, honestly. The double on 17 is a bummer but, other than that, I couldn't have done much better."

Amongst his bogeys was a six at the recently extended par 5 13th, with Young losing his footing on the pine straw that surrounds the fairway. However, it was the driver which the American felt was the hardest aspect to control in the rain and cold temperatures, as Young explained that "driving is difficult because if the driver face gets wet, even in your preshot routine, which happened to me twice today, they tend to just squirt right."

This is exactly what happened to Young on the holes he dropped shots on, with his drive at the 13th being blasted right into the trees, whilst his tee shot on the 17th went so far right that he had to chip down the opposite fairway as he made a double bogey six.

"I think physically that's a really difficult part. Mentally it's obviously hard just because you're generally not having the most fun out there," added Young, who starts the third round seven back of leader, Brooks Koepka.

"You can't afford to make doubles. Bogeys can be okay. You kind of just have to be thankful when you have a putt for birdie because it's going to play really long and no one's going to be very comfortable out there."

What Is Cameron Young's Net Worth?

A rising star in the world of golf, Cameron Young may still be looking for his first PGA Tour victory but he is still becoming a big name in the sport thanks to his consistent high-level play. But how much is he worth? We have taken a look below. 

It is tricky to estimate a specific number for Young's net worth at the moment, with reports varying between 5 and $17 million. We would guess the number is closer to the former than the latter. 

On the PGA Tour he has played less than 50 events and yet has still managed to earn nearly $10 million, and this is without a win!

His rise up the rankings culminated during the 2021-22 PGA Tour season in which he played 25 events and made 18 cuts. In those 18 he finished as a runner-up five times in some huge events like The Genesis Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship, and Open Championship. He also came in a tie for 3rd in the 2021 PGA Championship as well. Overall across the entire season he earned $6.5 million. 

Interestingly Young was a player linked with LIV Golf in 2022 but we are not sure if a figure was offered to him or how much that was. Regardless, Young said he was committed to the PGA Tour. Speaking in August 2022 he said; “With some of those changes coming, that’s what really helped me decide to stay and pursue those goals that I have for myself, like making the Presidents Cup team or Ryder Cup team and winning a major, when all of that is just uncertain if you go," he said. "It’s a tough place for me because I’m very young. There’s a lot of factors to it.”

Young also added: "I mean, frankly, I have decided to stay. So, I don’t know, it’s a really difficult situation, because it’s not really anything anyone wanted to happen. I think it wasn’t meant to be this hostile between the two.”

Young has a long list of sponsors at the moment. For a start he uses a full bag of Titleist clubs, including Vokey wedges and a Scotty Cameron putter. He then uses FootJoy golf shoes and wears Peter Millar apparel. 

On his apparel are a wide range of companies as well. At the start of 2023, iCapital, global fintech platform, announced a four-year brand ambassador partnership with Young. He also signed with Cisco at the start of 2023 as well, joining players like Viktor Hovland, the Korda sisters and Danielle Kang as a brand ambassador.

His other partnerships include Mutual of Omaha, RBC and Mastercard. Additionally Young always has an MLB patch on his clothing as well. This is a rare thing to see and Young explained why in a No Laying Up podcast in 2023. 

“So it started — the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, is a member at Sleepy Hollow (where Young grew up),” Young said. “My parents have known them for 20 years; they’re great people. When I first turned pro they took us to dinner, and afterward Rob leaned in and said, ‘Would you wear the MLB patch?’ And at the time I had just gotten [PGA Tour Canada] status or it was just before I got Canada status, so I was nothing — no status anywhere, essentially. And so I said ‘absolutely, I’d love to,’ and they’ve been there ever since and they’ve been an awesome partner.”

For more content on Young, learn about members of his support team here, including his cadde Paul Tesori, and wife Kelsey Dalition.

Abraham Ancer returned to the winner's circle, as he emerged victorious on the Asian Tour after shooting a 19-under tournament total in the PIF Saudi International, holding off PGA Tour player, Cameron Young, by two shots in a wire-to-wire win.

The Mexican found himself two shots ahead of Young after the third round but, seven holes into the final round, Ancer was tied with the American as he carded his fourth birdie of the day before a bogey at eight halted his momentum.

Young dropped three more shots on the back nine, with a bogey on the 13th and a double-bogey 15th hole meaning Ancer’s safety cushion was increased substantially, until Young rallied again with birdies at the 16th and 18th holes adding some pressure. Ultimately, it wasn't enough to stop Ancer.

This victory now makes it four career wins for the 31 year-old, as well as his first on the Asian Tour, with Ancer hoping to add more titles this season after he announced his move to LIV Golf in June last year.

"I just hit the ball really well. Mentally I was in a really good spot. I felt like I made very little mistakes and, whenever I missed a shot, I was in a good spot to get up and down from," revealed the Mexican following his round.

Picking up his first title since the historic victory at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the win was also Ancer’s first wire-to-wire win, which is just as impressive as the victory itself. 

Ancer added "I just didn't think about where I was on the leaderboard. I played really good the first round, and I just felt like I wanted to keep that going.

"I kept telling myself, just imagine if I was in like 20th place and you've just got to go out there and shoot a low one. It worked out. I stayed in the moment. Didn't really think too much about the previous shots or what was coming after. So I'm really happy with my frame of mind during these four rounds.”

PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Cameron Young is reportedly one of the players who has been granted permission by the Tour to appear in next month’s PIF Saudi International.

Golfweek reports that Young, along with Lucas Herbert, Cameron Champ and three Korn Ferry Tour players, have been granted waivers to compete in the event at the Kingdom’s Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

The tournament is controversial because it was created by the Saudi Public Investment Fund – the same organisation funding the PGA Tour’s bitter rival LIV Golf. Last year, the PGA Tour refused to grant waivers to members wishing to play in the inaugural LIV Golf tournament in London and instead suspended those who did. As a result, the two organisations are now embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit over the futures of certain LIV Golf players on the PGA Tour.

The first PIF Saudi International was held in 2019 as part of the DP World Tour schedule, which is also locked in a legal battle with LIV Golf. However, this year, the event is part of the Asian Tour, which explains why the PGA Tour has not taken a similar stance against members wishing to compete in the tournament. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan also addressed the issue at last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, where he confirmed that releases were “treated in the exact same manner that they were in 2022”.

Herbert’s agent, Davis Holman, confirmed to Golfweek that his client intended to play in the tournament – something he has done in the previous three years. On his reasoning for doing so, Holman said: “He has played the event in the past, enjoys the golf course and it fits well into his playing schedule following the Dubai Desert Classic.”

The PGA Tour has not confirmed who has been granted releases. Elsewhere, the new LIV Golf season begins next month, and CEO Greg Norman has previously stated his desire to secure the signings of seven new players.

Cameron Young has been named the 2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, seeing off competition from Tom Kim and Sahith Theegala to succeed 2021 winner Will Zalatoris.

The American earned the Arnold Palmer Award for a hugely impressive 2021/22 season that included seven top 10 finishes from his 25 tournaments. Of those, he was runner-up five times, including in the 150th Open at St Andrews. He also finished his rookie season a highly creditable 19th in the FedEx Cup standings.

The 25-year-old, from Scarborough, New York, burst onto the PGA Tour in style after graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021. Despite stiff competition from Kim and Theegala, that impressive introduction to the Tour saw Young win an incredible 94 percent of the vote, which was open to PGA Tour members who played in more than 15 official FedEx Cup events during the 2021-22 season.

Speaking ahead of the CJ Cup at Congaree, Young said: “It’s very special. I know the namesake Arnold Palmer obviously was a giant in the game of golf, and we have him to thank for a lot of what we do today, what the PGA Tour is. Just to have, to be related to that in some small way, is very cool. I know we had a very strong rookie class, and I know it’s voted by my peers, so it’s a huge honour to be thought of in that way, just to kind of finish the year that way."

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan offered his congratulations to Young, saying: “Congratulations to Cameron Young on being voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year by his peers. Cameron’s career has seen a remarkable rise over the last several years, and he quickly became a favourite among fans last season with the style in which he attacks the golf course. And of course, given Cameron’s Wake Forest ties, receiving the Arnold Palmer Award as PGA Tour Rookie of the Year will certainly hold a special significance for him.”

Young graduated from Wake Forest University in 2019, and he and Zalatoris are the first pair from the same college to win Rookie of the Year in successive seasons. Meanwhile, apart from running winner Cameron Smith so close at the Open Championship in July, Young also finished runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship, The Genesis Invitational, Wells Fargo Championship and Rocket Mortgage Classic – a tie for the most runner-up finishes by any player in a single season over the past 40 years, with Vijay Singh the last to achieve the feat 19 years ago.

It wasn’t just Young’s results that were impressive, though – his earnings eclipsed those of any other rookie in PGA Tour history, with $6,520,598. While Young is yet to win on the PGA Tour, he entered the 2022/23 season as the highest-ranked player without a victory, at World No.17, accentuating his consistent form throughout the season.

Young's award comes after Masters champion and World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was named PGA Tour Player Of The Year last month. 

In the midst of Rory McIlroy's historic win at the FedEx Cup playoffs, there was some breaking news on the LIV Golf front as Cameron Young announced he will not be moving to the Saudi-backed series as he is staying with the PGA Tour.

The 25-year-old had been heavily linked to LIV Golf, especially when his surname could have been used as a discount code for the fourth LIV Golf event in Boston at the beginning of September. However, following his final round at the Tour Championship, Young will be staying put on the PGA Tour.

Although he is staying, the American did admit that he was "very interested," with Young stating: "Obviously it's the elephant in the room for everyone. Frankly, throughout the whole process with them (LIV Golf), I was very interested. I think they have a bunch of good ideas and are doing some cool stuff."

He went on to add: "With some kind of changes (to the PGA Tour), that's kind of what really helped me decide to kind of stay and pursue those goals that I have for myself, like making a Presidents Cup team and a Ryder Cup team and winning a Major, when all of that is just uncertain if you go. That's a tough place for me because, you know, I'm very young and there's a lot of factors."

"I mean, frankly, I have decided to stay. So, I don't know, it's a really difficult situation, because it's not really anything anyone wanted to happen. I think it wasn't meant to be this hostile between the two."

Along with Young, some reports have stated that Hideki Matsuyama will stay on with the PGA Tour, although there has yet to be an announcement from the Japanese star.

Recently, six PGA Tour players have been linked to LIV Golf, with Cameron Tringale making the jump after announcing he had given up his PGA Tour membership. Other names linked include Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, with both reportedly on their way to Boston on the 2nd September.

Cameron Young is reportedly set to turn down an offer to join LIV Golf. 

An article in The Times claimed the rising star was ready to make the shock switch following the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, but a source close to the 25-year-old has denied the rumours linking him with the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit.

"He has been contacted by them, but at this point is very strongly inclined to remain on the PGA Tour," said the person, who spoke to the Rockland/Westchester Journal News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Video: What is LIV Golf?

Young turned pro in 2019 and has risen through the ranks in impressive fashion. Two wins helped him graduate from the Korn Ferry Tour last season, and he is now odds-on to clinch this year's PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award following a run of scintillating form. 

Although yet to lift his first PGA Tour title, the American has registered seven top-three finishes in 2022, including a T3 at the PGA Championship and a solo second at The 150th Open. At both, he came up a shot shy of forcing a playoff. 

Sitting inside the world's top 20 ahead of this year's FedEx Cup Playoffs, it's little wonder he was identified as a target by LIV Golf. A substantial financial package was reportedly on the table to lure Young away from the PGA Tour, but it looks like the American is ready to reject the advances of Greg Norman.

Young currently sits ninth in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with the eventual winner set to pocket $18 million, the largest first prize in PGA Tour history.

World No.17 Cameron Young is reportedly the latest target for LIV Golf.

Per The Times report, the American, who finished runner-up in last month’s 150th Open at St Andrews, could be heading to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series following the conclusion of this season’s FedEx Cup Playoffs. However, No Laying Up have called it "inaccurate."

Nevertheless, if the report is accurate, it will give a significant boost to the credibility of LIV Golf, as the New Yorker is regarded as one of the brightest talents in the game. Aged just 25, he is also entering the prime years of his career. In that sense, such a capture would be viewed similarly to another reported signing – 28-year-old World No.2 Cameron Smith.

Video: What Is LIV Golf?

Speaking ahead of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, Smith refused to comment on reports that he’s also about to sign up to LIV Golf. However, it is widely anticipated that he will leave after the conclusion of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and in time for the fourth tournament in the Series, which begins in Boston on 2 September.

If Young does opt for a career with LIV Golf, he will join an increasingly impressive roster that already features the likes of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed. Next year, LIV Golf plans to turn the Series into a fully fledged $405m League over 14 tournaments featuring promotion and relegation. With the calibre of players opting to join the venture appearing to be improving, there are surely likely to be even more departures in the months before it starts. 

DAY 1 REPORT:

Cameron Young fired a sublime eight-under 64 to take the early initiative at the 150th Open on a day when Tiger Woods got off to a horror start and struggled to the finish with a six-over 78.

The wind might have been stronger for the morning starters, but scoring conditions proved better, with Young able to pick apart the famous Old Course layout without dropping a shot. The American raced to the turn in 31 before getting to seven-under with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th as he threatened to break the record for the lowest round in Major history.

A three-putt par at the 14th stalled his momentum slightly, but he capped off a memorable day in style, birdieing the last to lead Rory McIlroy by two at the head of the field.

“I think we worked our way around the golf course really well,” Young said. “I don't think that I played a perfect round of golf. I just scored really well. And I think we thought our way around kind of the way you have to out there.

“Any time you set foot on the first tee or 18th green or anywhere, especially on that part of the course, there's just no hiding how special of a place it is. And it's certainly been a goal to get to an Open Championship. For my first one to be here is a little bit extra special for me.”

Behind Young, McIlroy looked at his brilliant best as he cruised to a near-faultless six-under 66. The Northern Irishman has become something of a Thursday specialist in his recent Major history, and will be hoping to carry his form through to Sunday to land a second Open crown. 

"Yeah, fantastic start," McIlroy said. "Just sort of what you hope will happen when you're starting off your week. I did everything that you're supposed to do around St Andrews."

Also among the early wave was Players champion Cam Smith, who sits third on five-under, one shot ahead of a large group that contains a trio of LIV stars, as well as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

The controversy around the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit continues to dominate the headlines, with Ian Poulter booed onto the first tee before nearly missing the 120-yard fairway. He recovered to make par and card an impressive three-under 69.

Elsewhere, defending champion Collin Morikawa failed to get going but salvaged a level-par 72 on a day when the Old Course held its own amid concerns it was going to be ripped to shreds by the game’s elite. 

As for Woods, golf’s iconic figure made a horror start, finding the burn with his approach to the first before missing from close range to rack up a double-bogey. A mini rally around the turn got the 46-year-old back to four-over but he limped to the finish, literally, signing for a six-over 78 that has ended any hopes he had of a lifting the Claret Jug for the third time at the Home of Golf.

Open Championship Leaderboard 2022

• -8 Young
• -6 McIlroy
• -5 Smith
• -4 Brown (a), Kitayama, Westwood, Kennedy, Hovland, Gooch, Johnson, Scheffler, Dinwiddie

Useful Links

• Open Championship TV Coverage
• Open Championship Tee Times
• Open Championship Weather Forecast
• Open Championship Prize Money

Updates will come from Fergus Bisset, Dan Parker, Elliott Heath, Mark Townsend and Andy Wright.

Hello and welcome to day two of the 150th Open Championship!

We'll have Fergus Bisset covering the early action this morning from 6am local time.

The 1999 Champion Golfer of the Year Paul Lawrie will hit the first tee shot at 6.35am, with the Scot playing alongside Webb Simpson and Min Woo Lee.

WELCOME TO THE LIVE BLOG: Good morning everyone and welcome to Golf Monthly's live blog for the 150th Open Championship from St Andrews. It's just half an hour until Paul Lawrie will get things underway on The Old Course. I'm Fergus Bisset and I'll be taking you through the first couple of hours of play.

FORMER OPEN CHAMP TO GET THINGS UNDERWAY: It's cool that 1999 Open champ Paul Lawrie will be getting things underway. Paul started his professional career working at my home club - Banchory GC in Aberdeenshire. He was assistant pro there to Doug Smart back in the 1980s when I was a nipper. From selling tykes like me Mars bars to Carnoustie Open champion and, as announced yesterday, now an honorary member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club... Pretty cool.

NERVES: How nervous do you reckon Paul Lawrie is feeling? I bet that despite all his experience, and the fact he'll be aiming at the widest fairway in golf, the butterflies will be flapping pretty hard.

1ST TEE RISKS: I once thinned a ball off the first tee of The Old Course that nearly took the head off a cyclist who suddenly appeared from the West Sands end of Granny Clark's Wynd... At least he won't have that to worry about.

WEATHER FORECAST

THE DRAW

It looks like it's going to get a bit breezier this afternoon... We'll see....

AND THEY'RE OFF

Lawrie, who also hit the first drive at St Andrews in 2010, looks a little cold, and definitely a little nervous. He receives a warm round of applause, calls play well to his playing partners. He hits a yellow ball with a long iron nicely down the fairway.. Well done sir!

WEBB SIMPSON

Also finds the fairway - Remember when he popped it up about 150 yards off the first tee at Gleneagles in the Ryder Cup? Min Woo Lee makes it three balls safely away. Everyone can breathe again!

NICE SHOT

Lawrie hits a nice approach just beyond the pin. Simpson was a little anxious but finds the green and Min Woo Lee plays a solid shot too... All very good so far!

GOOD SCORING CONDITIONS

It looks like we could see players shoot low this morning. There's little wind to speak of right now ... I reckon some mid 60s from the morning wave.

LEADERS

Paul Lawrie, Min Woo Lee and Webb Simpson lead The Open - Level par through 1. Nice to take the early lead.

BARCLAY BROWN

The amateur makes it over the burn on the 1st with his second... just... He's wearing a fishing hat.

2ND PIN

Ooh... The pin in the 2nd is in a tricky spot - up the left side. Anything just right of it will fall away and leave a tough putt... That's what has just happened to Paul Lawrie.

SPECTATORS

It's going to be the best attended Open ever with 290,000 through the course of the week... Not too many out there quite yet... They're coming though!

PAUL LAWRIE

No longer shares the lead in The Open. He's just three-putted the 2nd

NO BIRDIES YET

Who will get the first red number on the board? 

IAN POULTER

Is next off with Jamie Donaldson and Guido Migliozi. I think he just got boo'd... No need for that

IT RILED HIM

Poulter nearly did an Ian Baker Finch. He hit a hooky one that almost rolled out of bounds... just feet away.

RUNNING

That shows how hard the fairways are and how much it will run... That's what we've seen - 50 yards of run that can take a ball that's off line into the trouble.

BIRDIE!

Webb Simpson gets the first birdie of The Open - A nice 10 footer holed on the 3rd.

LONG CARRY ON 4

Paul Lawrie didn't make it over the rough on the 4th hole - A long old way that.. Will leave a very long and difficult second shot.

MORE BOOS?

Will we see more boos for LIV golf players after Poulter definitely received one or two..? I'd like to think not but I can only imagine that was what it was about...

MINKYU KIM

Makes first birdie at 1st

PHIL MICKELSON

He tees off and no audible boos for him. Maybe those guys just don't like Ian Poulter. He almost went in the water on the right. OK though...

LUCAS HERBERT

Very nearly hit a low hook into the Swilcan Burn... Someone is going to do it. Or even stick it out of bounds... but who?

MIN WOO LEE

Bounces back a little with an excellent birdie at the difficult 4th hole. Paul Lawrie's poor drive did cost him - he made a double. Two players under par just now - Simpson and Kim... That 59 isn't looking terribly likely right now.

KURT KITAYAMA

Just bounced it off the railway sleepers on the burn edge on the 1st - It bounced back towards him - Never seen that before. He's pretty bold though - He went for it again with his third and got it to stop close by the pin that's tight to the front.

PATRICK REED

No boos even for Patrick Reed. Poor old Ian Poulter. Reed gets it away well. Tom Hoge now - Always makes me hungry for a sandwich when his name's mentioned..

PAUL LAWRIE

Having very briefly led The Open, Paul's now last in The Open - 3-over through 4. He'll get a few back I'm sure... He's on the par 5 5th now, so that should be a chance... And he's got one!

SCORING

It's certainly not being ripped up early doors though... Some tricky pins and some reasonably cautious play. We've got Bryson coming up though so is that set to change?

-2 LEADS

Webb Simpson has got to two-under

DALY AND DECHAMBEAU

John Daly has a suitably colourful pair of trousers on. He spanks one away. DeChambeau talked about taking a driver off the 1st. He isn't. Iron down the fairway. Boring! Cameron Tringale makes it three balls in the fairway from this group.

A FEW MINUTES OFF

Just got to go and speak to Radio Jersey about Harry Vardon. Back shortly. Listen in if you'd like...

BACK

Sorry about that - Interesting to remember Harry Vardon - Still the only man to win six Open Championships.

SIMPSON AT THREE

Webb Simpson is now two shots ahead after seven holes but will have his work cut out to make par at the 8th

BOGEY FOR SIMPSON

Bad bogey for Webb on the 8th, he's back to two-under

MOLIWOOD ROSE

Sounds like a film star... Molinari, Rose and Fleetwood are off. Pars at 1 for Fleetwood and the Italian -

CAM SMITH

Doing what Cam Smith does - holes a moonraker for birdie at the second

BOB MACINTYRE

Will be a home favourite and he's off and running. He's not been playing great recently, can he find some form?

My vote would be no...

PAUL LAWRIE BATTLING WELL

Great recovery from Paul to get back to +1 through nine... 

-3 LEADS

Simpson birdies the 9th to get back to three-under

BIRDIES FLOWING NOW

After a little bit of a slow start, players seem to be rolling them in now... Always a little tough for the opening groups but they're into it now. 10 players under par

PINS ARE TUCKED

There really are some tough pins out there. Brooks Koepka looked to have played a great little pitch into three but it caught the wrong side of a slope and now it's in three-putt territory.

Here's that putt from Cam Smith.  He's looking good early doors. Surely has a chance with his putting.

HERBERT

So close to getting up the bank on the 5th. Didn't quite do it but will have a chance for birdie to get to 3-under... Good start for Lucas.

GREAT FRONT NINE FROM THE AMATEUR:

Barclay Brown has birdied the 9th to get it out in two-under. Tremendous start from the youngster. The Walker Cup player won final qualifying at Hollinwell and is carrying that form on... Keep it going! Don't let the hat doubters get to you...

FOUR AT TWO UNDER

And 15 players now under par. Nobody racing away with it yet though... Watching the early play, I reckon best score today will be 66.

HAND OVER

That's it from me. I'm handing over now - not quite sure who's taking over but you'll find out soon. It looks like being a great day and I think the course is standing up brilliantly to this point. Looking like being a proper Open!

THANKS FERGUS, DAN PARKER HERE

Great work early this morning Fergus, it's fantastic to be underway at St Andrews. While we've had some early drama with Rose withdrawing and Poulter being booed on the first tee, things are starting to settle down on course with a handful of players at two under par.

SIMPSON IN THE GORSE

Our early leader, and the farthest man out on course, Webb Simpson has just carved his drive on the 12th into a dense looking gorse bush. There's no way he'll be able to play his ball and that'll surely be a bogey or worse for our early leader.

WU TO TWO 

Brandon Wu has now joined the group at two under par with a birdie on the ninth hole. 

YOUNG JOINS THE LEADERS

We've seen plenty of Cam Young this year on Tour and he was very close to claiming a Major title at this year's PGA Championship. He's just joined the leaders at two under par and he's only through three holes.

Elsewhere, it looks as though Simpson has found his ball in between bushes on the 12th - that could be a very lucky break for the American. 

MIN WOO LEE JOINS THE FRONT

Min Woo Lee has joined the group at two under with a birdie on the 12th while Bob MacIntyre is also two under through three holes. 

Also in Lee's group, Simpson's journey on the 12th ends with a three putt bogey. That's two dropped shots on the back nine now for Webb.

ICYMI: ROSE WITHDRAWS

In case you missed one of the big news stories from this morning, Justin Rose has had to pull out of the 150th Open due to a back injury. First alternate was supposed to be Alex Noren, but he flew off to America to take part in the other PGA Tour even this week. Oh how he'll be regretting that decision to leave St Andrews on Wednesday. 

POULTER EAGLES, TAKES OUTRIGHT LEAD

After being booed on the first tee earlier this morning, Ian Poutler has just taken the lead of the championship with a dramatic eagle at the 9th. He drove the green and holed a monster putt for eagle. It was that long, I don't think I could even give you an accurate measurement of how long that putt was. We'll just call it a monster putt for now.

BRANDON WU TO THE TOP

Poulter now has company thanks to birdie from Brandon Wu on the 10th hole.

TRINGALE JOINS THE LEAD

Last week's fast starter at the Scottish Open, Cameron Tringale, is having a similarly quick start on The Old Course this week and has just reached the summit of the leaderboard. Elsewhere, Bryson DeChambeau has worked his way under par for the tournament and is lining up a big drive on the 7th. 

POULTER'S PUTT

Poulter's monster putt on the 9th been officially measured in at 160 feet - check it out for yourself below. That much footage is what I'll collectively hole in one year, let alone one putt. 

PLENTY UNDER PAR

With the weather very calm so far this morning, players have been taking advantage. There's currently 24 players under par...

BRYSON ON THE MOVE

After very nearly driving the green on the 7th hole, Bryson DeChambeau makes the easiest of two putt birdies to get to two-under for the day. He's looking in the mood now and that's three birdies in a row for the American.

BANG, BANG ERNIE

What a start from the 2012 champion! Back to back birdies on his opening two holes has the South African quickly to two-under par.

MCILROY, MORIKAWA AND SCHAUFFELE TEE OFF

The marquee morning group is underway. Our defending champion gets the group underway and, unsurprisingly, they all find the short grass from the first tee.

Meanwhile, Min Woo Lee has just made an eagle on the par-5 14th hole to get to four-under par for the day. Considering he took a double bogey six on the 3rd hole, this is some recovering from the New Zealander. 

BIRDIE FOR RORY

What a start! Rory has just holed a snaking 55 foot putt back down the first green for birdie. A casual reaction from McIlroy - a perfect start to his tournament. 

KIM AND YOUNG JOIN THE LEAD

Amid all the excitement of an early Rory birdie, we've got two new leaders. Cam Young and Joo-Hyung Kim have both got to four-under par to join Min Woo Lee. 

MORE BIG NAMES TEE OFF

The group directly behind McIroy is made up of Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas with Thomas sporting some of the worst attire I've seen on Tour this year. He's got a camo hoodie paired with some cuffed joggers/trousers - really not the vibe for day one of The Open. All three in that group have great looks at birdie on the first hole. 

SLOW STARTS

Morikawa and Schauffele have both been slow out of the blocks this morning. Schauffele made a three putt bogey at the first while Morikawa has dropped a shot at the second. In the same group, McIlory makes a solid par to stay one-under par.

GET THE THOMAS LOOK

Here's the Justin Thomas outfit I mentioned a few minutes ago. All thoughts and opinions very much welcome on this bold choice of attire. Get in touch with us on Twitter, @GolfMonthly. The hoodie has been removed as it's warmed up as the morning has gone on. As Simon Cowell once said, it's a no from me Justin. 

ICYMI: POULTER BOOED ON THE FIRST TEE

In case you missed it very early this morning, Ian Poulter was booed on the first tee by the fans. He then snap hooked his tee shot a very nearly missed the 130 yard wide first fairway. 

Poulter has subsequently channeled that negative energy by playing his first 13 holes in three-under par. Nonetheless it was amazing to hear some real negative response to one of the LIV defectors. 

LOWRY DOUBLE

Not the start the 2019 champion would be looking for. After a wayward drive off the second tee, Lowry was unable to scramble for a bogey and he has to settle for a double bogey six. Min Woo Lee made a double bogey on the same hole earlier today so all is not lost for Shane, but he's certainly behind the eight ball early on. 

CHECK OUR RORY'S OPENING BIRDIE

A dream start for McIlroy and McIlroy fans alike. He was a hot favourite coming in to this week and this putt would've certainly settled some nerves. 

ANOTHER WITHDRAWAL

We're just hearing news that Erik Van Rooyen has been forced to withdraw with a neck injury. England's Aaron Rai is his replacement. 

HOVLAND'S FAST START 

He's not had a top ten finish since the Players in March, but Viktor Hovland has looked very handy so far this morning. He's just moved to two-under par through three holes.

CAM SMITH JOINS THE LEAD

Another favourite coming into this week because of the sheer quality of his putting, Cam Smith has just joined the leaders at four-under par. He's sporting a navy/mustard wind jacket this morning and is part of a growing collection of golfers who are, in my opinion, dressed terribly today. 

AN AMATEUR TO THE TOP

Barclay Brown, the English amateur, has just joined the leaders. He's currently plying his trade at Stanford college in California and is wearing a Standford bucket hat on course this morning. I know I keep going on about it, but the fashion police will be having a busy day out there today. 

Elsewhere we have our first group in the clubhouse with Min Woo Lee posting a three-under par 69 to lead the in the house. Paul Lawrie, who hit the first tee shot of the 150th Open, makes an eagle two on the 18th to post a round of 74. 

MORE FASHION FAUX PAS

I'm sorry that this is quickly descending into 'fashion watch' at the Open, but I've just spotted Phil Mickelson who appears to be playing in a 1/4 zip and a black t-shirt. What is going on out there? I'm no traditionalist, but some of the garments I've seen so far today are bordering on shambolic. Anyway, rant over, I'll start catching you up on some golf now...

YOUNG TO THE TOP

Cam Young has completed his first nine holes in five-under par and now holds a one shot lead. Five birds and four pars for the American this morning who goes out in just 31 strokes. 

BROWN NEW CLUBHOUSE LEADER

Despite having an outside chance at eagle on the last hole, Brown is forced to settle for a par on the 18th. That's a brilliant round of 68 from the 21-year-old and it's the best of the day so far.

HOVLAND BUNKER TROUBLES

Great bit of work with the screenshots here from the guys at No Laying Up. Hovland really thought about every possible option with this tough bunker shot. In the end he decided to go out sideways and makes a decent bogey considering that lie he had. 

ICYMI: VAN ROOYEN WITHDRAWS

Here's more information on why Erik Van Rooyen has been forced to withdraw from The Open. Aaron Rai will be teeing off later in his place.

MACINTYRE MOVING

Plenty of birdies out there now. Bob Mac has moved to three-under and Cam Smith has got himself back to four-under with a birdie on the 12th. Things are steady in the marquee group with McIlroy one-under, Morikawa one-over and Schauffele even-par. 

YOUNG KEEPS MOVING

Yet another red number on the scorecard for Young, who drops his sixth birdie of the day on the 11th hole. Now at six-under par, he's two shots clear atop the leaderboard.

RORY BIRDIES

A delicate touch on the 5th hole leads to another birdie for Rory McIlroy. He's two-under par but hasn't looked out of second gear today - a serene start for the tournament favourite. 

BOWLED HIM! 

This is from a few minutes ago on the 5th tee. Rory McIlroy somehow struck the middle of one of the marker stones in the fairway. That would've knocked a good 20 yards off the total distance, but McIlroy went on to make birdie anyway...

ROARS FOR RORS

McIlory drops another birdie and moves to three-under par through six holes. An ideal start from the Northern Irishman who has been in no trouble whatsoever this morning. Up ahead, Cam Young has a short putt to move to seven-under par and extend his lead even further from the field. 

HANDING OVER

As Cam Young drops yet another birdie to move to seven-under par, it's worth noting he's only two thirds of the way though his round - will he get any lower than seven-under?

That's it for me now though and I'm going to hand over to Elliott Heath for the next few hours of coverage. With McIlory starting fast this morning, I've got no doubt he'll be grinning for ear to ear in the media centre. 

CAM YOUNG GOING LOW

Afternoon/Morning all, Elliott Heath here live from the media centre at St Andrews.

Cam Young is flying this morning, seven-under-par after 12 holes. I'm loving the low scoring. We've got a big leaderboard in here with all the scores and it's full of red birdies.

MCILROY TO FOUR

Three consecutive birdies for McIlroy at 5, 6 and 7 to reach four-under-par. The perfect start for the Northern Irishman who looks to be continuing his form. Not getting excited just yet, though, as we've seen him struggle to string four good rounds together in the Majors so far this year despite some incredible rounds.

"THE PINS ARE TOUGH"

Paul Lawrie: 

"I thought the pins were tough, but I think they have to do that. If they don't do that, I think it would be a birdie fest out there. Even with that, I think it will still be pretty good scoring. I thought the course was very good. Obviously the fairways are very hard. You want that. It's links golf. You want guys that have to run it through the ground, go on the ground, and judge distance as opposed to pitching on the green and spinning it."

PINS 

Webb Simpson described the pins as "very difficult" but Cameron Young is seven-under-par. The pros would be tearing St Andrews apart if the pins were a little easier, it sounds. The wind isn't very significant so that's why we're seeing a lot of low ones.

Currently 33 players under par with half the field still to play.

PACE OF PLAY UPDATE

McIlroy's group waiting on the drivable par-4 9th tee. They've taken 2hrs 20mins to do 8 holes. Definitely going to be long rounds today and tomorrow.

CAM YOUNG SHOULD BE EIGHT-UNDER

The American just three-putted the par-5 14th, eventually missing a birdie chance from around 4ft. 

7 pars, 7 birdies. 

ERNIE ELS TO FOUR-UNDER

The two-time Open champion has just birdied 8, 9 and 10! Amazing stuff from the Big Easy.

HOW GREEN SPEED IS MEASURED WHEN IT'S WINDY

ERNIE!

The Big Easy is five-under-par after a birdie at the par-5 14th. Crikey, I didn't see that coming today.

The legendary four-time Major champion is rolling back the years out there, don't you just love The Open? I'd love to be out there watching him right now.

"I DIDN'T HEAR ONE" - POULTER ON 1st TEE BOOS

"Didn't hear one," he said after his three-under-par 69. "I actually thought I had a great reception on the 1st tee, to be honest. All I heard was clapping."

WESTWOOD TO FOUR-UNDER

The Englishman has just birdied 15 to reach four-under-par as the low scoring continues. We now have 42 players under par.

CAM YOUNG 64

The American birdies the 18th to post a bogey-free 64 - wow, an unbelievable round. He currently leads by three. 

MCILROY TO FIVE

The Northern Irishman birdies the par-4 12th to get to within three of Cam Young's lead. He has a par-5 remaining, too.

POULTER DISMISSES BOOS

"Didn't hear one," the Englishman said.

Read the full story

MCILROY IN TROUBLE

The Northern Irishman found a tricky spot on 13 on the edge of a pot bunker with no green to work with and he's ended up a mile away from the hole. 

He hits a stunning putt to gimme range and he's got away with a bogey there - not dreadful. Back to four.

WESTWOOD POSTS 68

The Englishman is in at four-under-par, birdieing the 18th for a 68. Fantastic start.

LIV LEADERBOARD (NOTABLES)

-4 Westwood

-3 Poulter, DeChambeau, Gooch

-1 DJ, Casey

E Mickelson, Reed, Bland, Na

+1 Koepka, Garcia

+2 Horsfield

MCILROY BOUNCES STRAIGHT BACK

After bogey at 13 (where everyone else is also making bogey), Rory plays a sensational pitch shot from the wispy stuff for a tap-in birdie at the par-5 14th.

He had to lob it over a hollow and let it run up the bank to the pin. Exceptional.

TIGER SIGHTING

Woods is on the range warming up ahead of his tee time in less than half an hour.

ERNIE IN THE HOTEL?

The Big Easy may be on his way back down the leaderboard now after briefly reaching five-under.

He bogeyed 16 and has, I believe, driven it out of bounds on the Road Hole.

SCHEFFLER HOLES A BOMB

The World No.1 is already two-under-par after just holing a monster putt at the 4th.

“I’m number 1 in the rankings, but I’m not sure that’s how I’m perceived,” he said earlier this week. “I don't feel like there's any extra attention on me.”

There will be more and more attention on the Texan this weekend if he continues to make birdies.

ERNIE BACK TO TWO-UNDER

Sadly the two-time Open champion has just doubled the 17th after finding the hotel grounds off the tee. Good double in the end to be fair...

The 18th next for the South African who would love to find a birdie and post. 69.

ERNIE ELS DRIVES THE 18th

He was leaning a bit to the right but Ernie manages to get a 3-wood up onto the green at the finishing hole. He'll have some 50ft to get down in two for a birdie.

Starting to feel a bit like an Ernie Els tracker right now.

TIGER UP NEXT

It has been so good seeing him back at St Andrews this week. Let's hope he can play some good golf and walk comfortably!

PAR FOR ERNIE ELS

A three-putt on 18 and sadly it's a par for the South African. He's in at two-under-par.

SIGNING OFF...

Handing over to Mark Townsend now, who is sat next to me in the media centre here at St Andrews. Here comes Tiger...

TIGER OFF AND RUNNING

Iron down the middle at his favourite course on the planet. Twice a winner here, would it be stretching the imagination just a bit too far to get a third Claret Jug at the Home of Golf?

DISASTER FOR WOODS!

He found a divot off the tee, caught his approach heavy, turned away with a faceful of sand and saw his ball take one bounce and into the drink. Not part of the script..

MAKING DAD PROUD

On a happier note, an enormous shout out to Keith Mitchell, the king of US cool who's just ahead of Tiger. Not many Americans can claim to have a dad who is a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and a sister who went to school in the town. Has now qualified for the last three Opens. 

“My dad’s only concern this entire year was for me to be playing in The Open and he told me that a hundred times. He is probably happier about me finishing seventh in the Canadian Open than when I won my first event!”

DAMAGE LIMITATION

Tiger looks like making a bogey at the 1st with a very tidy chip. Hopefully there won't be much talk about my own golf but I once chipped it back into the drink at the same hole en route to an untimely opening quad..

TIGER DOUBLES THE 1ST

Woods has a bit of a tradition of messing up the opening hole in The Open. His short par putt doesn't even touch the sides..

BACK TO RORY

McIlroy came up short at the Road Hole but also short of the bunker. Putts up to sx feet. Playing partner Schauffele plays a ridiculous shot, off the road, with his putter. The ball pops up and finishes 10 feet away.

PAR FOR ELDRICK

Woods left himself a 53-footer at the 2nd after getting out of position. Actually threatened to drop and a comfy par to settle things.

Rory cleans up at the 17th and will head down the last at -5. Good on him.

WHO KNEW?

Paul Casey's playing this week... I had no real idea. The affable Englishman is -4 after just eight holes. 

THE PICK OF THE MORNING CROP

The R&A have been spoiling us this week with an outstanding digital effort. Here are some of the morning's highlights.. 

ROUTE 66 FOR RORY

Yes, yes it's only day one but that was some effort by McIlroy. Would almost certainly be the most popular winner this week but that's for another day. Day one in the books and he's six under. Well done the boy. 

MORIKAWA LEVEL PAR

The defending champion's also in the house now and a closing birdie sees him round in 72. Four birdies, four bogeys and will need an improvement on that to make the weekend. In-form Schauffele in with a 69.

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE

Brad Kennedy was round in 68 earlier which included EIGHT birdies. Solid effort given that he's 48 and has three missed cuts in three Opens. Is in St Andrews courtesy of finishing third at May’s Mizuno Open in Japan. 

STAT ATTACK

If you like your stats there is nobody better than Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf).

Nice bit of context on Rory

1st round score to par in majors 

2015-2021: 34-over 

2022: 12-under

66, his lowest opening round score at The Open since his victory in 2014 (also shot 66)

TIGER TIGER

Finds the fairway at the 4th after a bogey at the previous hole - is +3 thru 3. 

His good friend Justin Thomas signs for a 72 after coming home in 38., the same score as Shane Lowry who almost got pin high with an iron at the 18th. Vicktor Hovland the pick of the threeball with a 68. 

HAVE SOME FAITH

If you're unfamiliar with St Andrews then the scoring holes begin to happen after the 4th. You've got a par 5 at the next and then a series of shortish and drivable par 4s. Tiger seems to moving OK and has had a bit of bad luck so hopefully we can expect things to pick up. He's found the 4th green in regulation.

RORY IN THE HOUSE (MEDIA CENTRE)

He's just come in talk about his opening 66 so half the media centre have just cleared out to listen to him. Every time he's in here that's a good sign so let's hope we see plenty of him this week. Will drip feed his best bits through when we get the quotes.

TIGER +4

Like I said have a bit of faith. He's just three-putted the 4th and is now +4. I'll stick my neck out and suggest that he'll finish at 74 or better. 

THE PROVERBIAL BULLET

Marcus Armitage is knuckling down after a couple of dropped shots. Lots to like about him and he's now in red figures after 13 holes. 

AND THEY'RE ALL OFF

Hard to believe but the final group are now just teeing off. Game 52. Imagine having to busy yourself all day until 4.16pm. Needless to say there are three debutants in the threeball including Jack Floydd (yes, two ds). All safely away, should be done just before nightfall.

YOUNG PRETENDER

Another Justin Ray nugget.. Leader Cameron Young hit all 18 greens in regulation in a round for the first time in his PGA Tour career.

Hard to believe that he was playing on the Korn Ferry Tour last year when he won back-to-back titles.

MAJOR MEN

A quick look at the men who could finish 2022 with a couple of big ones. Scottie Scheffler is doing what he now does and is -4 at the turn, Justin Thomas was round in level while Matt Fitzpatrick is currently +1 playing the 5th. Not much happening for the Hallamshire superstar but, again, early days. 

WESTWOOD ON THE MAJORS

We've done well here, 90 minutes in and no mention of LIV. Until now. Who knows what will happen with the majors going forward but the good news is that Lee John's not bothered..

FORD FOCUS

Matt Ford is playing in his first major at the age of 44. The PGA pro won the qualifying at Prince’s in Kent and has just stiffed his approach at 16 to get it to -2.

RORY AND THE ROAD HOLE

This is nuts - Rory left himself with just a short pitch to the 17th..

"I hit it way down there. And my ball's on the fairway, but it's in a lie where I don't feel like I can get the leading edge of a lob wedge underneath the ball to get a good enough strike on it. So I chipped a little gap wedge down there, and I pulled it.

But I played the right shot so that if I did miss it, it wasn't in too bad of a spot but I could then get it up-and-down from. I only had 85 yards to the front of the green on 17, and I knew 4 was going to be a good score."

NINE OFF THE LEAD

The following players all shot 73 today and are nine back of Cam Young – Koepka, Power, Horschel, Zalatoris, Molinari and Finau. A lot of people fancied Zalatoris this week but very little happened for him today. 

CASH AND PARRY

Big fan of Harrogate's John Parry, always having a laugh and great attitude. Interestingly he finished 3rd here in the Dunhill in 2010, two weeks after winning the Vivendi Cup. Right back on song now, almost holed his second shot to 17 and signs for a 69. 

WOODS WOBBLE

Tiger hits probably his poorest shot of the day, turning a 3-wood over and finding a fairway bunker that should never have been in play. Still yet to find a birdie and he's not going to find one at the 7th.

SHORT FAREWELL 

Mark Calcavecchia is playing his last Open and sadly he's propping up the leaderboard. The American has just trebled the Road Hole and has a par at the last for an 83. 

DOUBLE DOUBLE

Woods is now +6 after eight holes and playing all four rounds looks a long way off. He pitched out at the 7th, pitched up short and can't get up and down and it's another six at a hole where he will have hoped to maybe pick up a shot. The good news is that he doesn't look to be in any discomfort, the bad news is the leader is 14 shots away and it's quarter past five on Thursday. 

'WHEN YOU'RE READY WIND... OR NOT'

Matt Fitzpatrick is not in his happy place. Nothing's happening for him and it's all a bit flat as his tee shot at the 8th doesn't offer him much chance of a birdie. Billy Foster tries to lighten the mood but Fitzpatrick not really having it. 

PAR SAVE

Tiger gets up and down at 8 to record a much-needed par. Maybe he'll get things going by finding the short par-4 9th.. 

51 players (out of 156) are in red figures on a day where there's been very little wind but some tucked away pins. You would say 69 is a good score today and anything under par fairly satisfactory. Talk of a 59 seems, thankfully, a bit daft.

FIRST BIRDIE?

Tiger's group gets called up at the 9th to hit their tee shots and Woods knocks it through the green with the chief. 

Sergio Garcia, remember him, Tiger's old pal?, is level today after 13 holes. Has a good record here at the Old Course but another who's yet to light it up.

ROAD WISE

Here's that approach by John Parry to 17. What he could sell this for on Sunday night etc etc

BIRDIE TIME!

Big smiles from Tiger as he rolls the 10-foot birdie putt in. Some light-hearted whoops amuse Woods and he heads to the 10th tee on +5

Fitzpatrick fails to replicate that from half the distance and he remains fairly unamused by the whole thing. Max Homa, many people's favourite, also birdies to reach the turn in level 

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

Sahith Theegala plays one of the shots of the day, screwing a pitch down to hole side at the 7th. Gets to -2 on his Open debut. Some nice info on the American - at the start of 2021 Theegala wasn't even in the world’s top 1,200.

HOW ARE YOUR FLUTTERS GOING?

Not had one myself, nothing preachy, just not had a bet, but would have gone with Harrington for a top 10. The US Senior Open champ still in red figures. 

TIGER TIME

Biggest cheer for a while as TW stuffs another one in close at 10

WOO DONE IT!

We might have the shot of the day. There was a huge cheer outside and it's come from down at 17. Si Woo Kim tried to play out sideways from the Road Hole bunker, fails to escape and then knocks it in for a par.

And, finally, we've got a smile from Fitzpatrick as he finally makes one. The mood has lifted all round. 

TIGER HITS BACK

Back-to-back birdies for Woods as he taps in, just like the old days. And with that I'll hand you over to the laconic Andy Wright....

GOOD EVENING

Thanks Mark, you're too kind. Hello everyone, let's bring this home. Can Tiger get himself back to level par? Will anyone challenge Young's lead? We'll find out...

BOGEY STALLS WOODS MOMENTUM

After making back-to-back birdies and finding the par-3 11th green, a costly three-putt has dropped Tiger back to +5. He really could ill afford a backwards step there. Massive seven holes coming up.

Alongside Woods, Fitzpatrick misses from similar range for par to slip to one-over and nine back at this early stage. 

HERE'S SCOTTIE

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler came into the 150th Open under the radar, somehow, but he certainly isn't now. The American recovered from a bogey at 13 with a birdie at the par-5 14th to get back into the logjam forming at four-under.

Elsewhere, Patrick Cantlay gets into red figures with a birdie at the 10th.

GOOOOOOCH

Talor Gooch cleans up on 18 to for a second consecutive birdie that sees him round in four-under 68. The atmosphere is probably nothing compared to a LIV Golf Invitational, so I can't imagine the American was phased by the challenge of an Open at the Old Course. 

WOODS GIVES UP BIRDIE CHANCE

This really isn't pleasant viewing. After driving through the par-4 12th green, a good chip leaves Tiger around 4ft for birdie but he's up and out the putt as soon as he's hit it. It's another one that's missed left, which has been the theme of the day. 

WATCH: THOMAS FAUX PAS ON 18

They are all human. I'm not sure whether this was a top from Justin Thomas at the last, but whatever it was, it was woeful. I love it.

HARRINGTON ROLLING BACK THE YEARS

The US Senior Open champ continues to impress here. A birdie at the 12th gets him to two-under and he consolidates his position at the next.

Elsewhere, it's more bad news for Woods fans. Three whacks from 107ft on the 13th means it's another bogey, which drops him back to +6. I hate to say it but he is already out of this.

DJ BIRDIES 18 FOR 68

Dustin Johnson is the latest player to join the group at -4 after rolling in a 12-footer at the last. 

TWO MORE TO -4

There are now 10 players tied at four-under following birdies by Sahith Theegala and Robert Dinwiddie. Ahead, after going close with an eagle chip at the last, Scottie Scheffler has to settle for a par and a round of 68. That'll do nicely for the World No. 1.

HARRINGTON TO -3

Paddy makes mince meat of the 615-yard par-5 14th, two-putting for birdie to get to three-under and within five of the lead. In the group behind, Tiger has hit his drive 412 yards. An eagle would be handy; a birdie is the minimum required.

LAW RALLIES TO GET UNDER PAR

After a slow start to his maiden Open Championship, Scotland's David Law has rallied to get the right side of par. Three birdies in five from the 12th have him -1 with two to play. The wind has all but disappeared here, leaving the Old Course largely defenceless. 

WOODS, FITZY BIRDIE 14

Having found the par-5 green in two, both Woods and Fitzpatrick two-putt from distance for birdie. Tiger's back to +5 while the US Open champ is now level. Max Homa, the third member of the group, is tied with Fitzpatrick. 

PACE OF PLAY!!

The pace of play has been nothing short of a joke today. Tiger's group have been on the course for more than five hours now and have just teed off on the 15th. I know it's St Andrews but come on. 

SPIETH, RAHM CUTTING FRUSTRATED FIGURES

The two Major champions fail to take advantage of the par-5 14th, leaving Spieth at -1 and Rahm a shot further back at level par. With nobody really on a tear here, coverage is petering out slightly. 

This wave could do with finishing strong, as conditions tomorrow morning are set to turn nasty. 

BIRDIE PUTT SLIDES BY FOR TIGER

After two good shots into the heart of the 15th green, Woods's 20ft birdie putt slides by the right edge. He requires a big finish and a seriously low one tomorrow to get back into this.

CANTLAY MAKING STEADY PROGRESS

The methodical Patrick Cantlay is going about his business nicely here. He's just made his third birdie of the day to get to -2 and into the top 30. He was one of Rich Beem's picks for the week, advice I didn't take obviously.

While Cantlay goes forward, one of my picks drops back. A three-putt on the 16th stalls the momentum of Padraig Harrington and takes him to two-under heading to the treacherous 17th.

AFTERNOON STARTERS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE

There is a distinct lack of birdies to report, folks. For all the talk of sub-60 rounds and record scores, the Old Course has held its own today. An early blitz, I'm happy to say, has been the exception more than the norm. 

Jon Rahm drops a shot on 15 to slip to +1, while both Woods and Fitzpatrick miss with their par attempts at the 16th. 

FUNNY TWEET ALERT

With very little else going on, I thought you might enjoy this from the PGA Tour's Sean Martin. I did. Safe to say it's slow out here...

MAN ALIVE, A BIRDIE

After what felt like an eternity, there is news to report. Padraig Harrington has signed off his day with a birdie at the last for a three-under 69. A superb effort from the 2007 and 2008 champion. 

Behind, Tiger Woods follows up a par at 17 with a drive into the valley of sin on 18. He's six-over and in need of something really special over the next 19 holes to make the cut, let alone challenge. 

Elsewhere, Theegala has dropped back to three-under, while Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth are one-under with a few holes to play.

NOT THE SAME TIGER WOODS 

It goes without saying, but the Tiger Woods that I've witnessed today is so far removed from the one that made the Old Course his playground in the early part of the century.

Physically, he looks better than he has of late, but it has still been uncomfortable to watch at times. His body is just no longer capable of doing what his mind wants it to.

A SAD WAY TO FINISH

As has been typical of the day he's had, a lacklustre first putt leaves Tiger with 6ft for birdie, which he fails to convert. It's three putts and 78 shots for the sporting icon, who is unlikely to be here at the weekend - in a playing capacity, anyway. 

Woods' playing partners, Homa and Fitzpatrick, finish with birdies to post one-over and level par respectively. Not what any of them would have envisaged more than six (!) hours ago when they stepped onto the first tee.

ICYMI: POULTER'S RECORD PUTT

He finished several hours ago, but one moment in particular from Ian Poulter's first-round 69 will live long in the memory. For those who missed it, Poulter holed the longest-ever televised putt on Thursday at The Open.

CLOSING PAR FOR RAHM, BIRDIE FOR SPIETH

As darkness falls, Jon Rahm cuts an angry figure on the Old Course's final green. The Spaniard, who failed to build any momentum all day, can only watch on as his short birdie putt slides by the left edge. The good news for the World No. 3 is that, on a seemingly poor day, he's still level par. The bad news is that conditions are set to be poor tomorrow morning. 

It's slightly better news for playing partner Jordan Spieth, The 2017 Champion Golfer of the Year taps in for a closing birdie and a one-under 71. Like Rahm, it could have been better but for a cold putter. Also like Rahm, he's still in this. 

DARKNESS CLOSING IN

There is a very real chance players at the tail-end of the field might not finish their first rounds. It's getting dark, quickly, and the final group still has four holes to play, which, at the rate they've been going, will take at least an hour.

BURNS AND CANTLAY FINISH WITH BIRDIES

Sam Burns capped off an up-and-down day with a birdie at the last and a round of level-par 72. Playing partner Patrick Cantlay followed him in, faring slightly better with a two-under 70. 

Understandably, both looked knackered after a long day on the famous links.

DINWIDDIE GETS TO -5

What a day it's been for Robert Dinwiddie. The journeyman pro is compiling the best round of the afternoon wave and has broken out of the logjam at four-under with a birdie at the 15th. He's tied for third alongside Cam Smith and three back of early leader Cameron Young. 

Pinch yourself stuff. Let's hope he can finish in style...

BOGEY FOR DINWIDDIE | SIGNING OUT

I've cursed him. It's back to -4 for Dinwiddie following a three-putt at the 16th. He may not see the finish. 

I definitely won't as my time is up. We'll be back tomorrow morning to pick up the pieces. Goodbye!

DAY 1 REPORT:

Cameron Young fired a sublime eight-under 64 to take the early initiative at the 150th Open on a day when Tiger Woods got off to a horror start and struggled to the finish with a six-over 78.

The wind might have been stronger for the morning starters, but scoring conditions proved better, with Young able to pick apart the famous Old Course layout without dropping a shot. The American raced to the turn in 31 before getting to seven-under with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th as he threatened to break the record for the lowest round in Major history.

A three-putt par at the 14th stalled his momentum slightly, but he capped off a memorable day in style, birdieing the last to lead Rory McIlroy by two at the head of the field.

“I think we worked our way around the golf course really well,” Young said. “I don't think that I played a perfect round of golf. I just scored really well. And I think we thought our way around kind of the way you have to out there.

“Any time you set foot on the first tee or 18th green or anywhere, especially on that part of the course, there's just no hiding how special of a place it is. And it's certainly been a goal to get to an Open Championship. For my first one to be here is a little bit extra special for me.”

Behind Young, McIlroy looked at his brilliant best as he cruised to a near-faultless six-under 66. The Northern Irishman has become something of a Thursday specialist in his recent Major history, and will be hoping to carry his form through to Sunday to land a second Open crown. 

"Yeah, fantastic start," McIlroy said. "Just sort of what you hope will happen when you're starting off your week. I did everything that you're supposed to do around St Andrews."

Also among the early wave was Players champion Cam Smith, who sits third on five-under, one shot ahead of a large group that contains a trio of LIV stars, as well as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

The controversy around the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit continues to dominate the headlines, with Ian Poulter booed onto the first tee before nearly missing the 120-yard fairway. He recovered to make par and card an impressive three-under 69.

Elsewhere, defending champion Collin Morikawa failed to get going but salvaged a level-par 72 on a day when the Old Course held its own amid concerns it was going to be ripped to shreds by the game’s elite. 

As for Woods, golf’s iconic figure made a horror start, finding the burn with his approach to the first before missing from close range to rack up a double-bogey. A mini rally around the turn got the 46-year-old back to four-over but he limped to the finish, literally, to finish with a six-over 78.

HELLO AND WELCOME:

To day two of The 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. I'm Fergus Bisset and I'll be taking you through the first couple of hours of the action. Cameron Young leads the way through 18 holes and will tee off today at 1.26. First out today are 1989 champion Mark Calcavecchia (+11 and dead last after round one), Ryan Fox of New Zealand (-1) and Jediah Morgan of Australia (+7).

The weather today looks interesting. A westerly to start with and maybe a spot of rain, the wind switching to a northerly later in the day. That might be challenging for the later starters.

BETS:

Just checking up on the performance of my bets from round 1. Billy Horschel (+1), Victor Perez (-1), Adrain Meronk (+3), Tyrrell Hatton (-1), Laurie Canter (Even)... Hope yours are doing better.

PGA Tour star Cameron Young has emerged as one of the brightest talents around in recent years.

He was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2021/22 season and has since become an established member of the circuit, winning twice - including at The Players Championship in 2026 - and rising to No.3 in the world.

However, it's not just on the course where the American is settled. Young recovered from a tricky time during Covid on the golf course, which was helped by marrying his partner Kelsey Dalition in 2021.

The couple enjoyed a private ceremony shortly after Young turned pro, with the golfer's former caddie Scott McKean as his best man. At the time, Young was only 23 years old.

The privacy of the pair's wedding is an indication of how they conduct their personal lives, with the couple preferring to keep their relationship largely out of the spotlight. There is very little available information about Kelsey online, and that suits the family just fine.

Young and Dalition began dating after his stint at Wake Forest, but they had known each other for a long time before that.

Explaining how the couple met and what he appreciated about the early dynamic in their marriage, Young told Golfweek back in 2021: "I played hockey for her dad and with her brother.

"They’re not a golf family at all so Kelsey is kind of still learning the ropes. It’s actually great for me, because the last thing I want to do when I get home is answer questions like, ‘Why’d you pull a 9-iron on 16?’ That would make my head explode, so that’s been a blessing.”

Nevertheless, Kelsey's knowledge and interest of the game has been growing and she regularly accompanies her husband at events along with their three children, Henry, John and Vivienne. The family have been to the The Masters Par 3 Contest multiple times and were on site for both of Young's PGA Tour wins.

When their eldest child, Henry, was born a year after their marriage, the couple had yet to settle into their own home. He told Golf Digest: "We've been living with our parents the whole time. Spent a lot of time with my family, my wife. We have a little baby, so spent a lot of family time, which has been great."

However, once the prize money began accumulating thanks to Young's success, they could afford a place of their own, eventually buying a property in Jupiter, Florida.

Even before that, though, Kelsey, with baby in tow, was there to support Cameron as he continued his rise in the game.

He added: "Honestly, they've been out with me the last couple weeks and it's been such a nice change of pace to be with them on the road. I think it just keeps you a little fresher. You get off the course and you can kind of forget about golf a little bit, which is really nice."

Away from the golf course, both Kelsey and Cameron are devout Catholics who always attend mass on Sundays no matter what.

An example of this being tested occurred during the 2026 Masters when Young was co-leading through 54 holes following an incredible seven-under round on Saturday.

With the eyes of the golfing world on him, Young revealed he and his wife would find a way to attend mass in the Augusta area - even if he was likely to be recognized by the congregation.

He said: "It might [be difficult to go unnoticed], but it's not going to stop us, I think. I don't know where we're going to go yet, but we'll find somewhere and take the kids. We'll be out in full force just like usual."