GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Cameron Young ran off four straight birdies on the front nine and stretched his lead to eight shots Saturday before he settled into a series of pars for a 5-under 65, giving him a five-shot lead in the Wyndham Championship as he goes for his first PGA Tour victory.
Young capped off a bogey-free 65 in the storm-delayed second round in the morning. Then he stretched his lead with his four straight birdies, including a 30-footer on No. 4 and a two-putt birdie from 20 feet on the par-5 fifth.
“Just played some really nice golf there for about an hour,” Young said. “Had some opportunities on the back nine, too, just didn’t make as many putts. But kind of cruised along with hitting some average shots through the middle of the round, and nice to finish up the way I did.”
Nico Echavarria of Colombia cut the margin to four shots with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine. A final birdie gave him a 64.
Young, who had gone 39 straight holes without a bogey at Sedgefield Country Club until missing a 6-foot sliding par putt on the 14th hole, responded with a beautiful lag for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th, and a 10-foot birdie on the 17th to put the lead at five.
“I’m just going to worry about what I’m doing. As I said, try to hit the best shots I can and try to hole the putts and we’ll add it up after 18,” Echavarria said.
Young is widely considered the best player to have never won on a main tour, a runner-up seven times since his rookie season in 2021. That includes a World Golf Championship and more notably the 2022 British Open at St. Andrews.
“I finished second a bunch. I’ve gotten beat a lot. I’ve played some good golf on Sunday in really all those cases,” Young said. “So that’s all I’m trying to do tomorrow. I’m starting in a nice spot, so I’m just looking to try to beat second place by as many as I can.”
He was at 20-under 190, needing a 67 on Sunday to set the tournament scoring record. What matters to Young is a PGA Tour title, especially now with his ultimate goal of being on the Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black.
He was No. 9 in the Ryder Cup standings in 2023 and left off the team.
Young grew up in New York at Sleepy Hollow, where his father was the longtime head pro. He had this Ryder Cup circled the day the PGA of America announced it was going to the Long Island public course.
A win would only move him to No. 15, but it would certainly put him in the conversation with his power and history at Bethpage. He became the first amateur to win the New York State Open in 2017, setting a course record at the time with a 64 at Bethpage Black.
“That’s been a goal this whole year,” Young said. “I’m trying to just look at that to just take all the small stuff that happens day-to-day as it comes. In the back of my mind trying to picture myself on that team.”
Echavarria was the only player within eight shots of Young.
Defending champion Aaron Rai (69), Chris Kirk (67) and Mac Meissner (70) were tied for third.
Kirk is at No. 73 in the FedEx Cup standings. The Wyndham Championship is the final event in the regular season and determines the top 70 who advance to the lucrative PGA Tour postseason that starts next week in Memphis, Tennessee.
Davis Thompson (No. 78) was in a tie for seventh. Gary Woodland, enormously popular as he returns from brain surgery nearly two years ago, is at No. 75 in the standings. He shot 70 and was tied for ninth, leaving him right on the bubble of advancing to the FedEx Cup playoffs.
One of the biggest moves came Saturday morning. Matti Schmid is No. 70 in the FedEx Cup and was two shots over the cut line. But he played his last six holes in 5-under par for a 65 and shot 68 in the afternoon. He was in a tie for 13th.
Also still with an outside chance are Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, who are at No. 71 and No. 82, respectively. Both finished 36 holes at 3-under 137 and figured they would miss the cut. But the cut dropped from 4 under to 3 under.
Rasmus Hojgaard shot 41 on the back nine after teeing off at No. 10 in the third round, and then shot 29. Nicolai Hojgaard shot 38, and then had a 31 on the front nine. Both need a low one on Sunday, but they didn’t shoot themselves completely out of it.