Cameron Young is winning plenty of admirers at the inaugural Cadillac Championship, and not just became of his dominance.
The American took a six-shot lead into the final round at Trump National Doral as he closed in on his second title of the season after victory at The Players Championship.
While Young’s performance is just the latest in a career resurgence where he is fulfilling the potential that once saw him named the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year, his sportsmanship at the event is also sure to win plaudits.
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On the fairway of the second hole of his final round, Young called a one-stroke penalty on himself after causing his ball to move at address.
Young fell foul of rule 9.4 of the Rules of Golf, “Ball Lifted or Moved by Player,” which states: “If the player lifts or deliberately touches their ball at rest or causes it to move, the player gets one penalty stroke.”
While that was an admirable decision, it was arguably made more so by the fact that the movement was essentially imperceptible to anyone but Young himself.
Perhaps as impressive was that, far from letting the incident knock him out of his stride, Young sent his third to within 14 feet of the hole, before making his par to maintain a bogey-free start to the day.
Young’s honesty at the Signature Event is reminiscent of a similar moment during the third round of another big tournament, the 2024 Tour Championship.
On that occasion, Sahith Theegala called a penalty on himself for touching the sand with his club during his backswing.
Like Young, only Theegala noticed the violation, for which he was assessed a two-stroke penalty.
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In the end, Theegala finished third at the East Lake event to win $7.5m. However, his honesty effectively cost him $2.5m, because he would have won $10m had he finished T2 with Collin Morikawa, who was just two shots better off than him.
Given the way Young continued following his penalty in the final round of the Cadillac Championship, it seemed highly unlikely he would suffer a similar fate.
Adam Scott was assessed a two-stroke penalty in the opening round
(Image credit: Getty Images)
By the time he was walking off the fifth green, having made his second birdie of the day, Young had moved to 17 under, seven clear of his nearest challenger Scottie Scheffler as he closed in on a $3.6m payday.
Young isn’t the only player to receive a penalty at the Cadillac Championship. During the opening round, Adam Scott was assessed a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball.