Cameron Young Didn't Smile Or Celebrate After Holing Players Championship Winning Putt. Here's Why...
New Players champion Cam Young insists he's a happy person on the inside, but admitted fans are "just not going to get much out of me" while he's out on the golf course
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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.
Article continues belowAnd 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.
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"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."
"Generally you're not going to get a ton out of me, but it doesn't mean that I'm not very, very happy to be sitting here with this." A vulnerable Cameron Young breaks the fourth wall after winning #THEPLAYERS pic.twitter.com/gpiPurh6mSMarch 16, 2026
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."

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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