Dom Amore: Cameron Young rises early, creates some golf history with a 59 at The Travelers

CROMWELL — Some days you hop out of bed ready to attack the day, some days you’d just as soon roll over and get a little more sleep.For Cameron Young, a young father of three, more mornings may fall into the sluggish-start category, like Saturday.“Woke up, would have preferred to go back to sleep,” Young said. “Did exactly what I do every day coming to the golf course, get a coffee, ate, saw the physio (therapist), and went out there, warmed up. Didn’t feel particularly awesome.”Sometimes, once you get started, as Young did at 9:45 a.m., after the suspended second round at the Travelers Championship was completed, things start to fall into place. How about a 140-yard hole-out for an eagle on the third hole for an eye-opener?Dom Amore’s Sunday Read: Chris Berman’s memories of Willie; SCSU star throws for gold; Reggie’s magnitude and more“I chunked a few less on the range than I did (Friday),” he said. “Then, yeah, I came out and just was very comfortable and things just started coming down close to the hole.”Young was certainly feeling awesome by noon, marching down the TPC River Highlands with Jim Furyk’s record in sight, something very few golfers ever see.As he walked up the 18th fairway, Young could soak in the applause and the moment. “I got a few more cheers than normal because I’ve been hitting it kind of bad,” he said.He ran into some tough luck with his lie and fell a little shy of Furyk’s 58 on this course in 2016, but Young sank a 9 foot, 7 inch put to save par and finish at 59, becoming the 13th in golf history to break 60, the first in four years.“It’s certainly pretty cool,” Young said. “It’s fun to have your name on a list that short. But there’s some full tournaments that I probably would rank above it in terms of just overall achievement. I feel like one day doesn’t necessarily warrant a crowning achievement of a career or — it’s certainly my high of the month. But I’m sure I will pretty much try to forget by tomorrow and go through my routine and see what I can do tomorrow.”Young, who has never won on The Tour, started the Travelers Championship with a 72, his 10th consecutive round over par, on Thursday, then broke through with a 66 on Friday. He got out of bed Saturday 11 strokes behind leader Tom Kim, but by the time he finished, before Kim teed off, they were tied.With Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Akshay Bhatia all starting the day up near the top, Young was under no illusions that he’d be a co-leader when the day was over, and another storm halted play at 3:30 p.m. with Kim and Bhatia 14-under.Cameron Young (left) and Jordan Spieth (right) congratulate each other on the 18th green after finishing the third round of the Travelers Championship Saturday. Young shot a 59. (Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant)But he could enjoy the buzz he created.“It could be anywhere from 2 to 10 (shots back),” Young said. “There’s a bunch of world-class players that are already 9- to 13-under, someone at 7-under could also shoot 59 and I’m nowhere close again. So I would plan on having to maybe not do something similar tomorrow, but if I’m going to have any chance to win I’m sure I would have to shoot another low one.”The possibilities were certainly out there. If the changes made River Highlands a little trickier, the rains that softened the greens were an offset it and the chase for low scores was on.Young, from Scarborough, N.Y., his father the pro at Sleepy Hollow, played at Wake Forest and was the PGA’s Rookie of the Year in 2022. He has three top 10 finishes at majors, but in his first appearance in Cromwell last year, he tied for 60th at 5-under.With the eagle on No. 3 Saturday, he was 5-under through the first four holes. He hit only six fairways, but Young made big second shots, chipped well all morning, and saved par on the next three holes.“Those three putts in a row on 5, 6 and 7, none of them particularly long, but all of them could have been missed,” Young said. “And that would have felt like it put a stop to my day a little bit. To get through those three holes without making a bogey and kind of showing myself that I can still make mistakes and get through it was really good for me.”He birdied 8 and 9 to make the turn at 28. Young narrowly missed an eagle, but made his putt for birdie on the par-5 No. 13, and hit his tee shot 280 yards, within four feet of the hole, and rolled it in for his second eagle on the par-4 No.15. When he birdied 17, he had a shot at 58.
History for Cameron Young!
A 9-footer for par on 18 cards him a 59 @TravelersChamp 💪 pic.twitter.com/IXYhp3w7Jw
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2024On No. 18, Young’s tee shot was about a foot from clearing the rough and might have rolled into a great position, but it left him with a tough second shot. He played it on the safe side, came up short of the green, then chipped nicely to leave himself a makeable putt for par, the crowd roaring its approval. It was a good day to get out of bed early, and Young probably earned the chance to sleep in for a later tee time Sunday.“The last two days have been great,” he said. “I played some really nice golf. I think like, in terms of lifetime achievement, there’s definitely some things that go before it for me. It’s one day, it’s one day that you shot a million under. … It’s easier and more difficult on certain days and in certain scenarios.“Five, years ago I was not married and I didn’t have any children. Now I’m married and I have three children. So, I think there are far more important things to me than what I do on the golf course, and at the same time I also provide for my family with how I do on the golf course. So there’s kind of a balance there that you have to be okay with, and there’s days that are easier than others with that, leaving to come play, and if you’re not doing well sometimes that can feel pretty bad. So, (it was) a great day, but as long as everybody’s not crying at home, I’m okay out here.” 

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