FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — On the Wednesday before the Ryder Cup, Collin Morikawa was asked a pointed question: Which of Team USA’s stoic squad would he like to see go wild in a charged Ryder Cup setting?
He thought for a moment before settling on his answer.
“I would love to see Cam Young just throw a massive fist pump in someone’s face. I would love it,” he said.
Four days later, he got his wish.
Young led the U.S. side in Sunday singles, going off first against Team Europe’s veteran firebrand, Justin Rose. He and his teammates began the day in a 12-5 hole, and in a race to 14, winning seemed out of the question but salvaging some dignity was still a worthy goal.
It was meaningful that Young was first out. Meaningful because of his New York connections, which run deep; not only did Young grow up at Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County but his first big-time victory came in the New York State Open at Bethpage Black, which he counts among his favorite golf courses in the world.
It was meaningful because the last time the U.S. played a Ryder Cup, Young was left at home. He finished 9th on the 2023 qualifying points list but was passed over while Nos. 10, 12, 13 and 15 were chosen; Keegan Bradley’s snub was documented on Netflix while Young’s was more anonymous but no less painful. The fact that Bradley chose Young to represent the U.S. side this time around was worth something extra.
And it was meaningful because it reflected his standing on this team. In the preceding two days Young had proven himself to be the U.S. player best suited for this Ryder Cup. He’d sat on the bench for Friday’s opening foursomes but came out firing in afternoon four-ball; he played both matches Saturday and improved to 2-1-0. Because the team sessions were such a nightmare for his teammates, Young’s 6-and-5 and 4-and-2 victories served as spots of bright red. He let his clubs do the talking alongside excitable partners Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau. The scoreboard, the stats and the fans all saw the same thing: Young was playing as well as anyone on property. He earned that first Sunday tee time.
Young’s match against Rose began with a bang, a 25-footer for birdie at No. 1 that sent a jolt through the thousands lining the ropes. But when Rose won Nos. 3 and 5, Match 1 turned blue on the board — and behind him, more blue followed. Justin Thomas 2 down. Bryson DeChambeau 2 down. Scottie Scheffler 1 down. Patrick Cantlay 1 down. Five matches were on the course, the U.S. trailed in all five, and the home team’s horror show was somehow getting worse.
Then Young got hot. Birdie-par at 6-7 was enough to win both and regain a 1-up lead. Another birdie and a string of pars got him to 3 up through 12. Behind him, Young’s teammates followed his lead; a red wave began to sweep across Bethpage.
“Kind of felt like nothing could go wrong,” Young said.
But then several things went wrong, one after the next.
“Justin Rose started doing some interesting things,” Young said. “Made some putts on me. And all of a sudden just feels like I’m just going to give it away.”
Rose made birdie at 13. Birdie at 14. Birdie at 16. Suddenly he’d tied Young, and that’s where they remained heading to 18. Home-team roars still stretched out behind him, Thomas and DeChambeau and Scheffler mounting their respective comebacks. But given their precarious position, the U.S. needed every point it could.
Young hit the fairway. He hit the green. He dodged a Rose miss. And then he stepped up to a 12-footer for birdie and the win, took a final breath and sent it rolling into the center of the bottom of the cup. Young’s fist pump would have made Morikawa proud.
“I’ve been thinking about having a putt like that for a while,” Young said in an emotional post-round interview. “The way things were going halfway through the back nine today, I didn’t want that putt — and then the way things were going through 17, I was very grateful that I had a chance there.”
He added this:
“This is the biggest event that we have, really. There’s no bigger stage to play on, in my home state, a golf course that I love … that one right there I’ll remember for a long time.”
A few minutes later, when Justin Thomas matched Young’s winning birdie putt with another one of his own, Young was there to greet him with a scream and a giant hug. DeChambeau completed a 5-down comeback of his own to earn a valuable half-point. And then Young, DeChambeau and Thomas hopped on carts, racing back toward their teammates. The comeback was on.
Bradley called out the spark in his post-round presser.
“When we sent out Cam Young first from New York to lead us out, we had to have that match,” Bradley said. “He went out there in front of the whole world, in front of his home state, and made a 10-footer to beat Justin Rose who is an all-time Ryder Cupper and get to celebrate at Bethpage Black in front of everybody.”
Ultimately for the U.S. it was a memorable and valiant but losing effort. Their mountain was too tall to climb; Europe scratched out enough half-points to reach 14, then 14.5, then the 15-13 final.
We’re not used to hearing much from Young in either victory or defeat. He’s not on social media, he’s allergic to attention-grabbing and he doesn’t waste words. But when he was asked to sum up his week, Young delivered the monologue of the press conference.
“It’s been incredible,” he said. “I mean, from the moment I got the call from Keegan, you know, I feel like this group is incredibly close. We were incredibly driven to win this week. I think that’s been the coolest part of it for me is to just be one of the 12 guys that’s here playing for our country, playing for each other.”
And then he turned to his teammates, who’d started nodding.
“Y’know, that last bit there where we were making a run, I don’t know about any of you guys, but I haven’t felt anything like that playing golf before. I mean, that was truly unbelievable to watch one after the other just start making putts, fighting the way that they did. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I’ve never felt anything like that watching golf, playing golf, doesn’t matter.
“So I think it’s really just a testament to how much it means to all of us to be here and how much we all want to play well for each other. It was truly unbelievable.”
Young’s team didn’t win. The U.S. fans left inspired but ultimately disappointed. There will be days, weeks, months of second-guessing ahead. But Young left a mark on Bethpage Black — and the other way around.
Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.
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