Cameron Young achieves unusual PGA Tour record post Valspar Championship 2024 disappointment - “A bad time for a bad one”
For a moment, it looked as if Cameron Young might win the Valspar Championship. It would have been his first-ever victory on tour. He's been searching for that maiden win since 2022, and he hasn't been able to capture it. A slight stumble at the end of the fourth round prevented him from getting that trophy, and it added to a growing list of runner-up finishes.
In fact, the golfer now has more second place finishes without recording a win than anyone on tour since 1983. It was his seventh such finish, an unfortunate record that had stood for four decades.
Young addressed his misstep and his overall performance after setting a dubious record that no golfer really wants to have. He said via Golf Monthly:
"A bad time for a bad one... I realized I wasn't going to win pretty quickly. Those two par-3s on the back, both kind of can bite you. I kind of let 15 get me yesterday, in a similar situation, similar wind and everything. So I was proud of that shot, just making sure it didn't bite me. But I think I handled my own thoughts really well and, for me, that's a big win regardless of the outcome."
Young also noted that he was quick to get over his heartbreaking loss since he had to immediately take up a four-hour drive to get back to his wife and young kids. Both of his children are under two, so he was more concerned about them than his close loss.
Cameron Young nearly broke through for maiden win on PGA Tour
The fourth round of the Valspar Championship was extremely exciting and chaotic. At one point, quite a few golfers were in the lead or had a chance to get to the top, Young included. Peter Malnati eventually claimed the win, but not before several took a hearty shot at it.
It is impressive for Young to have been able to weather that storm and continue climbing up the leaderboard, but it is unfortunate he couldn't quite finish it off. He and Malnati appeared headed for a playoff for a moment before the latter shaved another stroke and Young gained one to close it out.
Young has made all eight cuts on the PGA Tour this year. He now has a second place finish as well as a T4 to his name during that span. The golfer also has two Korn Ferry Tour wins in his career, so his young stint with pro golf has not been all bad. It's just been a bit unlucky and his name now unfortunately goes in the record books for the most second-place finishes without getting a win.
He is ranked 13th in the world by OWGR. This suggests that he routinely performs pretty well. Players can do well without winning as they have no control over anyone else, and it appears that Young generally does just that. Soon enough, he should get the lucky bounce and come out on top in a tournament.