Despite a close finish at Bethpage Black on Sunday, Team USA was, for the most part, dominated by Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
It was 11.5-4.5 heading into the final day (12-5 after the "Envelope Rule" involving Viktor Hovland), and the U.S. team managed to win five of the first seven singles matches, making it interesting at the end. Nevertheless, Shane Lowry sank a clutch putt against Russell Henley to retain the Ryder Cup, which would later contribute to a final score of 15-13 in favor of Team Europe.
With that said, there was one bright spot for the Americans: the play of young rising star Cameron Young. He was 3-1 on the weekend with wins in all three Ryder Cup formats: a four-ball win with Justin Thomas, a foursomes win with Bryson DeChambeau (a pairing we actually suggested), and a singles win against Justin Rose on the 18th hole, who had been lights out all week until their matchup.
By all accounts, Young is a star in the making. His performance this weekend further revealed that he has all the skills required of a true five-tool player. Data Golf revealed that during this Ryder Cup, he was performing at a high level in at least four of the five main categories they study to determine strokes gained: off the tee (+2.10, second in the field), approaching the green (+3.84, second in the field), tee to green (+4.60, second in the field), and putting (+0.46, tied for seventh in the field with Rory McIlroy).
He did struggle around the green (+0.46, 20th in the field), but he has had strong scrambling performances all season, including gaining 0.83 strokes around the green in a T4 finish at the 2025 U.S. Open. Overall, he ended up leading his team in total strokes gained (+5.06) and was only behind Tommy Fleetwood (+6.24) in the entire field.
There’s no doubt that for a player to be considered a star in professional golf, they must also start winning majors, and the most recent U.S. Open wasn’t the only major in his career where he contended. He finished T3 at the PGA Championship in 2022. Later that same year, he finished T2 at The Open. He has also finished T7 at The Masters in 2023 and T9 at The Masters in 2024.
But his golf prowess isn’t the only reason he’s destined to become a star. He also got his first-ever PGA Tour win this season at the Wyndham Championship last month. Not only will this boost his confidence going into next season, but he has also demonstrated considerable perseverance after finally breaking through, having achieved seven separate runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour. That’s the kind of mental toughness a player needs to start winning grueling majors.
It’s only a matter of time before Young proves that he can win the big tournaments. He certainly has the tools and mental fortitude to become one of the top five players in the world, but one thing is for sure: he needs to prove that he can do it consistently.