Cameron Young opened the British Open with a 3-under 67 at Royal Birkdale, leaving him two shots off the pace after a round that hinted at a return to the form he showed earlier in the season. After a run of results that were solid but largely modest by comparison, the opening day offered a timely reset.
That matters because Young had already won twice this year, first at the Players Championship in March and again at the Cadillac Championship at Doral in May. Since then, his finishes had cooled, with tied-for-10th at the Truist, tied-for-26th at the PGA, tied-for-46th at Memorial, tied-for-43rd at the U.S. Open and tied-for-47th at the Travelers.
A round that brought some momentum back
On Thursday, Young made a 15 foot par-save putt on the 18th hole to finish two shots behind Jackson Suber. He described the closing hole as one of the toughest he has played in professional golf.
“That 18th hole is one of the hardest holes I’ve played in professional golf,” Young said. “It’s a beast.”
He added that the challenge on the closing stretch did not break his focus. “I just made a bad mistake. I just made a poor swing. I was really happy to get out of there with a par,” he said.
A reset rather than a reaction
Young’s bigger point was about mindset. After admitting that frustration can come quickly when he does not perform well, he said this week has offered a chance to approach things differently.
“It is hard, (and) I feel like I’m inclined toward frustration generally when I don’t perform really well,” Young said. “It does just come and go. So really, this week’s a nice reset,” he added. “It’s a really nice chance to just take things as they come and see each shot as its own thing.”
That is exactly the sort of response a player wants after a steady but unspectacular stretch. The opening 67 does not settle anything on its own, but it does put Young back in the conversation and keeps the week alive heading into the next round.
He made that clear himself when reflecting on the late save at Birkdale. “To get out of there with a four is really nice to be two (shots) back instead of three,” Young said. For a player looking to rediscover the sharper edge that produced two wins earlier in the season, that is a useful place to be.
