Cameron Young made his first PGA Championship a memorable one.
Young, who made just his fourth major start at Southern Hills Country Club, gave himself a chance down the closing stretch for the first time in a major championship.
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Just one back of leader Mito Pereira at the par-4 16th hole, Young found the greenside bunker with his second shot and three-putted the hole for a double bogey to see his hopes of winning the major championship dashed.
“I think we hung in there pretty well for a long time, and unfortunate to have a couple slip away at the end,” Young said after the disappointing loss. “But it happens when you're right around the lead.”
Young was in the thick of the competition coming down to the final stretch as each time he found trouble he also found a way to bounce back. He opened with a bogey at No. 1 but immediately rebounded with a birdie on No. 2. He made the same recovery at No. 9 after a bogey at No. 8 as he went out in one-under par, 34. But a bogey at No. 14 and a double at No. 16 would be too much for Young to bounce back from despite, once again, following up with a birdie at No. 17.
The son of PGA Member David Young, who from the age of 4 grew up at the golf course, played in the penultimate group with Will Zalatoris on Sunday. Young carded a final round 1-over par, 71 to finish tied for third in his PGA Championship debut.
“If I keep putting myself in a tie for the lead or one back with nine holes to play, one of those times I'm going to shoot 5-under on the back, and that's going to be good enough,” Young said about his takeaways on Sunday. “It wasn't today. There will be another one.”
