Cameron Young Enters U.S. Ryder Cup Chat

There has been a material change to the Team USA Ryder Cup conversation. Cameron Young, the player with the most runners-up on the PGA Tour without a win, is winless no more. Despite two somewhat sloppy bogeys on his 70th and 71st holes, Young took down the Wyndham Championship by six shots after entering the final round eight shots clear of third place. 

With the win and a T-4 at the U.S. Open, Young joins the following list of golfers as the only Americans in 2025 with both a top-five in a major championship and a PGA Tour win: Scottie Scheffler, Harris English, J.J. Spaun, and Chris Gotterup.

To date in his still young PGA Tour career, the 28-year-old Wake Forest product has experienced his fair share of close calls without sealing the deal. He played his final five holes 2-over par to miss the playoff by one at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. He finished one stroke behind Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews. And he played in the final pairing with Brian Harman at the 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool, a championship in which Young shredded the field from tee-to-green and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his putter. Those are near victories at the highest level of competition in the sport. 

Throughout his career, he has been consistently plagued by terrible putting performances that have spoiled many a dominant tee-to-green display. Since the beginning of 2025, he has turned his liability into a strength, ranking 10th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting entering this week’s Wyndham, a ranking that will improve after he gained more than 10 strokes on the greens in Greensboro. Does that sound like anybody else? 

{{inline-article}}

Next, he turns his eyes to Bethpage Black, a golf course he referred to as “one of (his) favorite golf courses in the world” after Saturday’s round. “That's been a goal this whole year…in the back of my mind trying to picture myself on that team,” Young said on Saturday. “Obviously I'd love to make it. It hurt pretty bad to miss it a couple years ago. I was ninth on the points list and didn't get picked, so I was a bit frustrated with that. Set out the year to give our captain no choice, and I don't know if I'm in a position to do that or not, but it would take some really good golf between now and then. But if I'm in the question, that's been a big goal of mine and I'd love to put myself there anyway.” 

Well he’s officially in the question now, moving inside the top 15 in the U.S. rankings with a game that’s both trending and well-suited for the distance-friendly Bethpage. He’ll be discussed within the same breath as other Ryder Cup bubble names like Jordan Spieth, Ben Griffin, and Sam Burns for the final spot or two. One week is just one week, but Young beat Spieth by 15 shots and Griffin by 10 at Sedgefield. Burns did not tee it up. 

An in-form Cameron Young with a solved putter is a dangerous weapon. He needs to demonstrate a little more consistency with his ball-striking over the next few weeks, but should he post a few solid performances in the FedEx Cup Playoffs over the next few weeks, it’d be foolish to once again leave him off the Ryder Cup team.