2022 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP: Top 10 Power Rankings at Narashino CC
Cameron Young’s phenomenal rookie campaign has already begun to bring him spoils.
He made his first Presidents Cup last month, joining the winning American side.
Now, a player of his stature is eligible to compete in guaranteed money, no-cut events like these.
It’s Young’s first appearance at Narashino Country Club. That’s okay, because we’ve seen him do just fine in course debuts before.
The next step on his career trajectory is picking up a PGA Tour win. This is a good spot for him as there are some big names to beat, but it’s not the strongest field nor the deepest.
The Wake Forest alum piled up a whopping five runner-up finishes last year. Most notable, perhaps, was his eagle on the par-4 18th at St. Andrews that nearly forced a playoff at The Open Championship.
Young also finished T-3rd at the PGA Championship playing in the final group on Sunday.
He made it to East Lake for the Tour Championship where he finished as high in the final FedEx Cup standings (19th) as he did in the previous season’s Korn Ferry Tour standings to qualify for the PGA Tour.
Young’s performance at Quail Hollow for the Presidents Cup was a bit up and down. That’s to be expected for a newcomer. He finished 1-2-1 with a win alongside Collin Morikawa on Thursday, and a half-point with Kevin Kisner on Friday. Familiar putting issues cost him as the weekend wore on. Fortunately, the pressure was off him and fell to capable shoulders like Jordan Spieth, for example, who went 5-0-0.
Young can overcome some of his deficiencies on the green with his trusty driver. The 25-year-old New Yorker ranked second on the PGA Tour last season in strokes gained off the tee per round (.914) and was third in driving distance (319.3).
We saw him play well in Scotland, so perhaps a maiden trip to the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will end well for Mr. Young.