CBS Golf’s Trevor Immelman & CBS Golf analysts Patrick McDonald and Rick Gehman join CBS Sports HQ to recap all the action from the 3rd Round of the 2025 Wyndham Championship.
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It’s the penultimate day of the PGA Tour regular season. Moving day at the Windom. Cameron Young, your leader by three shots at 15 under heading to the weekend in search of his first career victory. First your shot of the day and that belongs to Sammy Balamaki. His second into the par 417th some 153 yards. Balamaki. I mean, pull the string and here it comes. You know the rest. No such thing as too many twos on a scorecard. Balamaki all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. But there’s one for the road or two. Young would keep his foot on the gas in round three here at the par 3 third. 165 ft. Staring it down with good reason. Flags one to seven feet. Would convert the birdie putts. Another opportunity at the fourth from 32 feet. Small undulating greens at Sedgefield and he’s got him figured out. Drops it in. Dead weight for the birdie. Gets him to 17 under. Another circle at five. We find him again at six. This time borrow off the other side and curling another one home. Four in a row. Cam Young wants a win. Takes an eight shot advantage at that point, but not so fast. Twotime winner on tour. Nico Echavaria making a late move on Saturday. Entered the week 65th in the FedEx Cup standings and looking to solidify his spots in Memphis and perhaps beyond. A birdie putt there from range at the 12th gets him to 12 under. Then a few holes later, his third at the par five. A common bailout left at the green and you got to find dead weight down the hill. Gives himself a nice birdie look that he would make. Cuts the lead to four shots after young bogeies number 14. We find your leader at 15 now. Trying to bounce back. A deep eagle look from that same side. He’s going putter from 55 ft and stalking it. Walking after it. Did he do it? Just a couple feathers short of the big bird. A kick-in birdie always welcome. Follows up the bogey with the birdie and gets that stroke right back. Looking for another on the way home here at 17. The putter has served him well. pours it in from 10 feet. Etchavaria would counter with a birdie of his own on 17. And still Cameron Young by five shots. Your leader heading into the final day of the regular season. 20 under par and looking to become the 1,000th winner on the PGA Tour. It would be his first career victory in his 94th start. Work to be done, but five between them. Cameron Young with the inside track. CBF golf analyst Patrick McDonald leading us off here in Patm. It’s It’s never cut and dry on tour. It does feel like we’re getting there. The advantage is five with 18 to play. Where did Cameron Young set himself apart specifically here in round three? You look at his putter, Joe, and the leap this guy has made on the greens. Not only this week where of course he leads this field in terms of strokes game putting, but just this year, these last two years on the PJ tour, he has bled strokes to the field with the putter in hand. And so far this week and this year, that putter has really propelled him to that five-stroke lead. It’s going to be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of Sunday with this sizable lead. Cameron Young just 18 holes away from a dream realized. Now we take you to the Super Tower where CBS lead golf analyst Trevlman joins us with more. Trevor, it is a formality at this point, but there’s still golf to be played. An impressive day here by Cameron Young. rattles off a bunch early on. Sort of stuck in neutral in the midst of this round and then finds a couple coming home. How do you sum up the day in total? Yeah, two birdies the last four really got things back on track for him. He got off to such a brilliant start with birdies from three through six. And then like you say, just a little bit of hiccup, but that’s where the hard holes are at Sedgefield Country Club. And at the end of the day, you know, if you take the 30,000 ft view of it, you started the day with a three-shot lead. He’s grown that to five now and he really is in a great position to get his first win tomorrow. It’s going to be fun for us to to keep an eye on this. Look, it’s hard to get it done for the first time, especially when you have all the attention on you. He’s had all these second place finishes out here, seven of them. And it’s going to be fun to see how he deals with that added pressure tomorrow. You allude to it. He’s not necessarily sneaking up here on win number one. Bears the scars of those past near misses. And it feels like this moment is one that he’s ready for. But take me back to Cog Hill if I’m not mistaken. What is it to know that you are 18 holes away from a dream realized? Yeah. Look, you just got to hang in there. Keep reminding yourself at the end of the day. This is what you’ve dreamt about your whole life. This is what you’ve spent all of the time, made all the sacrifices, practiced for hours and hours on your own to have this opportunity to get the first win. So, sure, you’re going to be nervous, a little anxious, but you got to stay focused on those positives and what a great opportunity this is to go ahead and get that first win. And for a guy like Cam Young that has been spoken about for so long as one of the top players, he was rookie of the year when he came out here in 22 and he’s had all these second place finishes. Just keep firing and trust your game. I mean, who knows what could happen if he goes ahead and closes this out tomorrow. I mean, the kid really, I call him a kid. He’s just 28 years old, and we were talking about it on the broadcast today. In a lot of ways, it’s sort of reminiscent of David Duval, who had to wait a long time before getting the first win. But once he did, the guy all of a sudden started winning a major championship and became world number one. So, you just never know once you get that pop of confidence. You know, as a son of Chicago, I do I do hold a soft spot for those old Western Opens as well, Trevor. We remember them fondly. A final thought here because there’s so much to keep our eye on. Cam Young and beyond uh Sunday here, our final broadcast with Golf on CBS. That top 70 line does uh rain loud in the minds of many. As you take a look at that cutoff line, 65 to 75, those that are going to be white knuckling it tomorrow. Give me a name that has your undivided attention dancing around that cutoff line. Well, Gary Woodland, who’s sitting at 70th right now, projected at 70th. I mean, it has been an incredible couple years for him after going through the brain surgery in September of 23, the fight back, the rehab, uh, all all the angst and anxiety that goes with that. And then once he comes back, all the love and support from not just his fellow tour members and the staff out here, the whole big family out here, but all the fans that come out to these events week in and week out. Everybody has a little love for GW as we call him and for him to be on the bubble going into tomorrow. It’s going to be a massive day for him and he is going to have a ton of people rooting for him. Yeah, Saturday often referred to as moving day. It will be a moving day on Sunday if Gary Woodland can find himself inside that top 70. Trevor Illeman one more time tomorrow pal. We’ll see you then. Can’t wait. Thanks Moose. And don’t forget where to be. 3 Eastern time, CBS and streaming on Paramount. Plus, final round coverage at the Windham Championship as Cameron Young tries to collect win number one. But plenty of prizes given out if you get into that top 70. It all comes to a close Sunday on CBS. More to come here on CBS Sports HQ as we continue our conversation. Seven times before he’s found himself in second place. Will it be win number one come Sunday? We explore more next. [Music] Back on HQ Post Round presented by AT&T where Cameron Young finds himself just 18 holes away from a career worth of work realized. A five shot advantage for Young headed to the final day of the regular season with a birdie at the 17th. Extending that lead, Young ever closer to that all elusive win. Back in studio, Joe Muso alongside Rick Gam and Patrick McDonald. Rick, Patrick and I previously sort of examining the putter of Cameron Young and how it’s served him throughout this week. Is that where he statistically has set himself apart? Yeah, and it’s the it’s the part of his game that sets him apart from other long hitters, Joe. I don’t know if I would say that Cameron Young is a good putter or a bad putter, but he’s a very streaky putter and he can get it hot and unfortunately for him, it goes cold for weeks or even months at a time. But that is the one thing that he does better than a lot of his big hitting peers. Guys that can bomb it off the tea. Guys that hit a lot of wedges into greens. He’s got softer and better hands on and around the putting surfaces, but they do come in streaks and and he’s just got it fired up this week. I mean, unlimited firepower. I go back to the way he finished his opening round with five straight birdies. The only thing that slowed him down at all was the weather delay in the second round. He he could go off and and put four or five circles on the card in a row at at any given notice. And yes, I do think the putter is a big reason for that. And I think it creates a lot of confidence that goes throughout the rest of his game. I’m glad Rick brought up the feel because it seems like Cameron Young has this feel this week that he might not have had in his previous contention runs. You look at that lag putt on 16, for example, from 90 ft away, putting that to tap in distance. You look at all his birdie putts. These aren’t right edge putts. These aren’t one ball out. They’re out there side winding and Young really hasn’t had that touch, that feel on and around the greens. I feel like these past few years and it does bear out in the statistics. I mean, I was shocked to learn today when I went on PJTour.com, Cameron Young is number 10 on the PJ tour in terms of strokes game putting in 2025. That is absolutely bonkers when you combine it with the length with his wedge play that Rick was mentioning as well. And right now, this week, it just seems like everything’s really coming together for Yeah, if you are streaky, the when is all important and the when of this win is also prevalent in this moment. With the win projected to jump 24 spots all the way to 16th in the FedEx Cup standings. I mean, that’s almost high enough to skip Memphis if you want, but different conversation. I I know win number one, you take it whenever you can get it, Rick, but how important is it for Young that this is happening to him right now? No, it it matters. I mean, we’ve seen guys win the RSM Classic and that’s the final event of the fall and they have to sit on that for a couple of months and then they can’t really rekindle that magic. If you are playing great golf and you’re beating a field of some of the best players in the world, you want to be doing it at a time where it’s most valuable. And now you can determine what value is. Maybe it’s making a run at the FedEx Cup playoffs in the Tour Championship. Maybe it’s a last ditch effort to get yourself onto the United States RDER Cup team. Maybe it’s for the money and the purse that’s going to be available over the course of the next couple weeks. But yeah, if you if you could pick a time to get hot and rattle off a couple of good weeks in a row outside of starting in April and going through May, this is probably the best time to do it if you’re Cam Young. Ju just look at Lucas Glover a couple years ago, right? That guy had no real season at all and then he wins the Windom Championship. He wins that TPC Southwind. People are clamoring him for to be on the US RDER Cup team. Cameron Young probably has a higher ceiling than Lucas Glover with all his skill. And you just have so much potential earning power down the line these next three tournaments including the RDER Cup potentially if Cameron Young does play himself onto the team. Remember this guy is just a kid from the mean streets of Brooklyn from the Bronx, right guys? And for him to potentially play in Beth Paige Black, I mean it’d be a true storybook ending. You got the kid from Jersey, you got the kid from from Brooklyn, you got you got all of the burrows covered and even beyond, but in the tri-state area, maybe well represented or could just be the same roster we’ve seen time and again. We will get there when we get there. Uh what is the task at hand on Sunday? Just for Young is the win, but for others it’s to climb up those FedEx Cup standings and try and find their way into that top 70. Rick, I know it’s a moving target right now. We’re taking a look at some projections 65 through 76. And not all of these have the opportunity to put a peg in the ground on Sunday, including Eric Venuan, who had a WD, was on the fast track to a miscut this week, but all he can do is sit and wait. As for the others, Rick, who has your undivided attention on Sunday, someone that you’re excited to watch in this high pressure moment, right? So, I think there’s two here. um not on this page, but Nico Echaria started the week 65th and is currently 44th. He’s in solo second, but on this list, Nik Nikolai Hoygard to me is the most fascinating. Uh he is a couple spots out of the top 70 right now. He was on that RDER Cup team in Rome. His brother Rasmus had to sit there and watch the whole thing. It seems as if Rasmus is a shoe in this time around for Beth Paige. And now Nico is very much a question mark. And I think if he could get himself into the playoffs and play a couple more weeks, he would significantly improve his chances of making that RDER Cup team. Everybody knows what the ceiling is, but it hasn’t been a great 2025 for Nico. He’s starting to play a little bit better late in the year, but I think he needs a little bit more. And it would be an amazing natural pairing for the Hoygar twins to battle it out at Beth Paige. Now, both of them getting, you know, Ryder Cup experience. So that to me is probably um the most significant one when you consider uh the prizes that are on the line and also the the the team spots that are available. The Hoy Guards versus Gotdup and Young the Jersey Shore. I mean I can’t wait for that matchup. Come on. Just fist bump fist bumping through Beth Paige. I I think the feel-good story that Trevor alluded to with Gary Woodland being the bubble boy heading into Sunday is the circle to be named. But I I’m looking at two young guys. one who is currently projected outside and in and Cam Davis who’s uh just inside the top 40 right now. I think he has a really good chance tomorrow to get out there early on the golf course, post a good score and climb his way back inside the top 70. Whereas someone like Davis Thompson’s going into the final round inside that top 10 inside that projected top 70. He entered the week at number 78 in the FedEx Cup standings. I’m really interested to see how both of these young players adapt to the pressure that is the FedEx Cup playoffs tomorrow in that final round knowing that a good score could push them into the St. Jude championship and potentially beyond. Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of players looking at a lot of different things Sunday at the Windham. So, let’s simplify it. Take it back to the conversation at the top of this leaderboard. 20 under is where we find Cameron Young. 15 is the next closest. Then you have some space between he and number three. What is the number, Rick, in Cam Young’s mind that he has to get to to feel safe about win number one? I I believe that number is 23 under. If you get to 23 under, you have you’ve boxed out everybody not named Nicoia, and he would really need to go very very low. So, you take care of the par fives, you know, you find an extra birdie out there and you call it a day. You know, this is very much the territory where where five strokes is a lot. It is not insurmountable, but it’s at the point where Cam Young is the story line on Sunday. No matter what happens, if he wins, he he finally breaks through uh first win after seven runner-up finishes. And if he does not win, then it was another collapse and we might be having to have um kind of a bigger conversation about Cam Young. So, all eyes on him. Every story line will start and end with Cam Young. I think he should go out and target 23 under. I totally agree, Rick. You got the two par fives and then you can pick one up every which another one along the way. Maybe give one back like he did today. But I I really like the way he bounced back from that bogey on the back nine. But if Cameron Young reaches 23 under, ties the tournament scoring record would be the tournament scoring record there at Sedgefield Country Club. Mind you, I I think he’s walking to the finish line with the trophy in his hand coming down 18 with potentially a smile on his face, which does not happen often for Cameron Young. We’ll see if we can get one out of him. if he can get win number one. Patrick McDonald and Rick Gaiman, always a pleasure and the pleasure is all yours. The Early Wedge, 5 days a week, anywhere you get your podcast, you can scan that QR code to learn more. Our guys taking you under the ropes and into the action. The Early Wedge. Get involved right now.
