“From Runner-Up Heartbreak to History!” Cameron Young Breaks Down the Grind Behind His 1st Win

Cameron Young’s wait is over! In his post-round press conference, the Wake Forest alum dives into the long, winding journey from multiple runner-up finishes to becoming the 1,000th different champion in PGA TOUR history at the 2025 Wyndham Championship.

🏆 What you’ll hear Cameron discuss

Early frustration → new mindset: How slipping to 83rd in the FedExCup lit a fire that changed his mental approach.

Swing overhaul in 10 days: Why recommitting to a consistent draw and trusting a prototype Titleist Pro V1x unlocked elite ball-striking.

Putting breakthrough: From 145th to 10th in SG: Putting—setup tweaks, short-putt reps, and greens reads with college teammate/caddie Kyle.

Front-nine fireworks: 20-under on holes 1-9 for the week, including two separate streaks of five birdies in a row.

Handling the spotlight: Staying calm with an eight-shot lead, navigating a swarm of fans—and jokingly asking, “What do I do? I’ve never done this before!”

Family & coaching roots: The vital role of his father (coach, logistics coordinator, and friend) plus Wake Forest crowd energy.

Next goals: Cracking East Lake, earning a Ryder Cup nod, and “keeping it 1,000” next week.

👇 Question for the gallery
Which part of Cam’s journey—mental reset, swing change, or putting revival—impressed you most? Drop your take below!

👍 Like the video if Cameron’s story fired you up, and subscribe for more PGA TOUR press-room access.

#CameronYoung #WyndhamChampionship #PGATOUR #FirstWin #GolfInterview #WakeForest #RoadToVictory

Okay, we’ll get started. We’d like to welcome Cameron Young into the interview room. Our 2025 Windham Championship winner. He is our 1,000th unique winner on the PGA Tour with 23 of those coming here and he’s the fourth Wake Forest alumnist to win this tournament. Cameron, I know it was a long road for you to finally get into the winner circle. How good does it feel? It feels great. Uh like you said, feels like a long time coming. I felt like for, you know, the first year and a half that I was out here, I had a chance to win, you know, every every third week it felt like. And um they’ve been a bit more few and far between, but um to to have a chance like this today, I was I was not going to let it get away from me and I’m I’m thankful that I that I didn’t. Swept up there on the first, but then five straight. Just talk a little bit about the streak you got on there. It was your second uh stretch this week with five birdies in a row. Yeah. Um I played the front nine really really well this week. I I think um I was probably close to 20 under on the front. So um I just knew that I knew that there were opportunities and obviously number one was a little messy, but then I kind of got to work and nice to see, you know, all those putts go in. Obviously on on another day maybe not all of them go in but I was I was rolling it great and um nice to see a bunch of them in a row find the bottom. And before we open up a question you move up to number 16 in the FedEx Cup. I know that opens up a whole new list of opportunities here over these next few weeks. Talk a little bit about it as the playoffs get started next week. Yeah. Um, going into the truest this year, the first week of May, I think I was 83rd. So, um, that was not a great spot to be. And, you know, there’s thoughts in the back of your mind like, you know, what if I finish 104th? So, you know, I I kind of told myself that I can’t let that happen. And I’ve I’ve played some different golf since then. So yeah, I mean to to be back kind of where I feel like I should be. Uh I’ve got a great opportunity to make it to East Lake and I think a great opportunity to make a Ryder Cup team. So those are those are the two things I want to do. All right. Awesome. We’ll open it. We’ll start with Shane right here. Congratulations. Uh first off, um you talked about finishing second a number of times, but none of them were incredibly clear-cut opportunities. This one was. And so I guess my first question is what was it like last night and this morning? I mean I have to imagine those are some pretty long hours. Yeah. I mean honestly la last night was no problem. It just like we were out here early. It was we had to play three holes and then come back and play a whole round of golf and by the time I got home it was dinner bed. Um so I really had uh no issue. This morning I was a little bit more nervous than I expected, but kind of just, you know, did my my usual stuff. And um I I really I was I was a little bit nervous starting out and and then um you know, by by the time I made the second or third birdie, I was I was just ready to ready to get it done. You may have just answered my next question, but there was watching on the TV, I was like, he seemed you seemed maybe a little nervous on late when it was obviously very clearcut that you were going to win. And I was wondering if there was some part of you that was sensing the finish line and might still have felt a little tension. Yeah, I wasn’t I wasn’t nervous at all um those last bunch. Um I just kind of at that point had my foot off the gas and frankly I knew that I could make a couple bogeies and it was just a matter of not hitting it anywhere that I could possibly make a double. um which I I didn’t want to play that way, but at some point, you know, there’s I wanted to win by 12 and at some point there’s something more important than that probably. And you know, with four holes to go and an eight shot lead or whatever it was at the time. Um I I was just trying to get it done. Um and you know, even though I had a couple putts for par, it was like the least stressful few holes probably of my career. Let’s go Helen and then Ron. Uh, first of all, congratulations. Thank you. I have a couple of questions. One, after you won, it looked like you said, “What do I do? I’ve never done this before.” Yeah. Did you say that? Yeah. I I Well, there were all of a sudden a lot of every time I’ve come off the green my entire career, I have shaken the hands of whoever I’ve played with, thank the standard bearer and, you know, our walking scorer, and then walked through the tunnel to scoring. And today there were about 150 people between me and that tunnel. So at that point I got confused and I didn’t know if I if I did that first or if I you know spoke to somebody first. Uh so yeah I just that that’s the first time that I’ve really done anything any different uh after hauling out on 18. So I would I would prefer that outcome more often. Um secondly, what did it mean to have your dad here? Yeah, it’s great. I mean he he doesn’t miss much. uh you know, he’s essential to me doing what I do. He he does a lot of background stuff for me. He does uh he just he sets up a lot of stuff for me. He kind of takes care of little things and on top of that, you know, coaches me. So, he’s a great resource to have on the road, both, you know, as a friend and a coach and a father. He he he plays a lot of roles for me. So, he just walked in the room. Nice to nice to have him here and um you know, glad he watched some better golf than I’ve played in a while. All right, let’s go Ron and then Adam. Congrats. I’m sure you’ve answered this too many times, but how much of a burden or weight had the runner-up thing become and how did you make peace with it or had you made peace? Yeah. No, I mean I I think there there is always some, but it’s not in the sense of um it’s not like a burden that I hadn’t won. It just is something that I that I haven’t done and I’d like to. Uh and you know, at times it hurts to have played some really good golf and not had that happen. But in all those cases, there there were really no times that I had it in my hands and lost. So, uh, it’s different, I think, than having a burden. It’s not, it wasn’t really like that. It was more just, you know, when when is it going to be my time here? And because it just felt like a lot of those tournaments weren’t. Uh, I think I answered a question. I think I answered basically that question at the at the PGA Championship in 2022. Um, somebody asked me something similar, you know, when are you gonna win something? And I said, well, I don’t know. I mean, I played pretty well today. I’m sure one of these times I’ll be right there and I’ll shoot 31 on the back nine and win. And I went to the British Open and shot 31 on the back nine and lost by one. So, um, to someone that shot 30, it wasn’t like I was coming way back or anything like I was right there and shot five under and lost. So, um, or got beat rather. So, it Yeah, I mean, not a burden in the traditional sense. Today was a different situation than I’ve ever been in. And um you know I I it was our goal today to come out and see how many I could win by if I stuck to our plan. Uh and about halfway through the round my brain just said let’s make some pars. So I was I was trying to aim at stuff and I honestly just I think the mind is powerful and it was just taking me you know towards the middle of greens and I would have liked to hit some better shots but you know got it done and happy to have done it. Let’s go Adam and then Jeff and Jenny. Yeah. Kind of following up on on that, you said last night that a couple years ago you were frustrated went about the not winning. When what changed? How did you get out of that mindset? Um I started playing worse and the good finishes were less frequent and I became happier about those good finishes. I think I think I just just was more thankful for those opportunities. Um, obviously there’s always some frustration when you don’t win if you’ve, you know, felt like you had a chance. But, uh, I kind of took for granted there for a minute that I was just going to have a chance to win a lot. And, you know, that doesn’t have to be the case all the time. So, I think through that, um, I feel like I struggled through the last, you know, year and a half or so, um, up until, you know, the second half of the season. So, I think it’s just recognizing that, you know, at that point it just felt easy and recognizing that it’s not always easy and I I need to appreciate the opportunities I’m given. So, you know, in that, you know, in that vein, I’m thankful that I had the one I had today and very, very thankful to have gotten it done. I asked you yesterday about your putting, but I looked up the numbers and you were 145 in strokes game putting last year, you’re 10 this year, you were number one this week. What spec is there anything specific that you point to for the improvement? I mean, I I think it’s been years of understanding that just setup dictates a lot, and I think we’ve finally just like narrowed into a pattern that works. Um, it allows me to mechanically do the things that we want and also feel good. So, it’s it’s just a lot of setup work. It’s nothing. It’s not rocket science. It’s a lot of short putting practice and a lot of setup. Okay, one more from me if you don’t mind. Uh, Sleepy Hollow is as good as it gets. How did that play shape you into the golfer you are? Yeah, I mean, I think if you went and played the golf course, you’d understand why I do a lot of what I do. Um, the fairways are pretty wide. I swing hard. You know, a lot of the up and downs and uh, putts are tricky and I’m typically pretty good chipping and lag putting. Uh, so I think, you know, you get to some of these holes where you have really, really fast putts down the hill or up over a knob. And I’ve I’ve done all that a million times growing up. Not that all of us haven’t at some point playing out here, but growing up on greens like that. I think it it just I think it just trains your mind to just see some higher lines, you know, out here, I I don’t know how many putts are missed low versus high. it’s got to be drastically on the low side through the week. So, I think it just growing up on on those kinds of greens, you’re just more familiar with how to play some of those and um it’s just ingrained into you from a young age. All right, Jeff, you mentioned earlier in the year being, you know, 80 something in the standings and what changed for you after that and what really has propelled you through the second half of the season? Yeah, there’s been a couple things. we’ve worked a little bit harder on the mental side of the game, which has helped. I think it’s just, you know, allows me to be me more often, you know, play the golf that I feel like I can. Um, I think some of it is just, you know, grinding through tougher times and finding better ones. Uh, and some of it’s um, you know, hiring my my caddy Kyle. He’s one one of my best friends, a college teammate, and uh, you know, he’s he’s great at reading greens. I think he’s very quickly picking up a lot of the technical skills that it requires to be, you know, a really good caddy out here. So, he’s been a great resource for me. Uh, great on a day like today when you’re not necessarily comfortable kind of from the jump. So, um, between those things, uh, I think I’m headed in the right direction and happy to see some results. All right, let’s go Jimmy and then over to Kevin. Hey, congrats Cameron. Uh you went through a ball switch this week uh using a new Titist prototype. Can you talk about what went into that switch? Um yeah, it’s just been um something we’ve worked on over the last 9 10 months. Um and it’s, you know, it’s very very similar to what I was playing before. Uh it’s just just a tiny bit different. It’s a like you said, a new Pro1X prototype. And um I think it I think it definitely contributed to some of the the good play this week. So I’m excited about the next few weeks. Um yeah, I mean I’m I’ve always been a super high spin person. Um so it’s really just trying to manage that. Um and given, you know, I I hit it pretty hard, so I hit it hard and hit down on it a lot and that just generates spin. So, it’s just a ball trying to manage that. All right, let’s take a few more. Let’s go Kevin and then back up to Shane. Congrats, Cameron. Um, you mentioned the switch to focusing on hitting draws yesterday and I was wondering like what kind of are the periods of your progression in your career where you’ve focused on that kind of before this and then how did that help you into the winner circle? Yeah, I think from the time that I that I turned pro, um I I’m sure it’s some bias remembering it differently, but I I remember having a bit more of a consistent swing thought just trying to get the club a bit more behind me and swinging it into out more. Um and that you know I think that was kind of 20 20 21 22 and um you know I in trying to learn some more shots I kind of went the other way and you know I’ve done that for a couple years now and um I don’t know if that’s the answer or not. It seems to be right now but um we’ll see. I mean, it’s I think it’s something that I I I don’t have any proof yet that I’m wrong about that thought. So, we’ll uh we’ll see what we get. And then how does it feel to be the 10,000th winner? Yeah. PG tour history. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I mean, it’s um the PJ tour’s got a great history. I mean, tremendous tradition, and I’m I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of it. And, you know, to for it to happen to be number 10,000 is pretty cool. So, uh, I’m gonna do my very best to keep it 10,00 next week. All right, let’s go back to Shane and then we’ll go to the back to wrap it up. Should it be like being the 10,000th shopper at a supermarket where they give you something? Yeah, I I’ll take whatever they’re going to give me. Any balloons for him, John? Yeah. Um, I My question was also about the draw, but I was just curious, how recent was that when you decided I want to get back to this? Uh, probably about 10 days ago. Okay. So, super Yeah, it was just in my practice last week. I kind of had the thought and, you know, went out there, played some holes just to see what it would be like and um felt like it was doable and I was really just kind of curious uh how that would affect playing out there. And you know, there’s times that I it wasn’t my first choice of shot, but I kind of just committed to doing it all week. Um, I’m sure there’s a couple you could go back to some right pins where, you know, conventional wisdom says don’t start it, you know, right at the right fringe, but I I told myself I was going to do it and, you know, stuck to it all week. Probably a dumb question, but how much credit do you give that for what just happened for the last I don’t know. Yeah. Uh, yeah, like I said, right now that seems to be a a a good way to do it. So, um I don’t know. I think it I think it allows me to kind of get a feel for something more so than every shot being different and having to kind of start over with each shot. That just doesn’t give you the opportunity to build on shot after shot and kind of go on a run. I think unless you’re way way better than me and you just have all of them all the time. But, you know, it it seemed to lead to that this week where I kind of got on some runs of just hitting it right at it and, you know, stuff coming down the right distance. So, I think it it might be difficult in some spots, but right now it seems like maybe part of the answer. Who knows? All right, we’ll wrap right here in the middle. Congratulations. Obviously, the first win is going to be special anywhere, but just wondering if there was anything more special about doing it with the Wake fans and on this golf course. Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s great having some extra fans out there. It’s, you know, there’s a couple places a year where I feel like I get some additional support and this is probably the biggest one. So, you know, anytime we get up in the Northeast, I have a kind of the New York crowd, but um this week to have the weight crowd out there was a lot of fun. Um, it’s a it’s a it’s a place I really enjoyed. I love this part of the country in North Carolina and yeah, nice nice to have some some extra support out there. Well, Cameron, we couldn’t be happier for you. Congratulations. Thank you. I appreciate that. Y