The 2023 Ryder Cup was disastrous for Team U.S. captain Zach Johnson. He and his squad were humiliated by the Europeans in Rome, Italy. While there was a lot that went wrong for the squad, Johnson was criticized heavily for his choice of Captain’s Picks. Especially for the favoritism he showed towards Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler over a consistently performing Keegan Bradley. But it wasn’t only Keegan who had issues with Zach’s decision. Cameron Young was also one of the few players who were surprised not to be picked despite being in far better form. And he expressed the same during an interview recently.
After an outstanding finish in the third round of the 2025 Wyndham Championship, Young was questioned about why he’s pushing so hard to qualify for the Ryder Cup this year. The 28-year-old replied, “I think that that location is, first of all, one of my favorite golf courses in the world. I have a lot of good memories there playing the New York State Open, and I’m sure a New York crowd would be I at least hope on my side to some extent.”
The PGA Tour pro was born and brought up in New York. Growing up, he had won quite a few titles in his amateur career. In 2017, he captured the New York State Open. He was the first amateur in history to win the title after an intense playoff battle with Chris DeForest. DeForest, who was already a pro then, had matched Young’s 9-under 204 after three rounds, but couldn’t surpass him beyond the 54 holes. The tournament that was played at Bethpage Black saw Young score a record-breaking 7-under 64 in the last round to rise to the top and win the title.
Coming back to Cameron’s response, he further added, “That’s been a goal this whole year. I’m trying to just look at that to just take all the small stuff that happens day to day as it comes with — in the back of my mind, trying to picture myself on that team.”
Young has certainly been trying his best this year, and that has shown in his record for the season. He has had 4 top-10 finishes this season, with his best one being the T4 in the 2025 U.S. Open. At present, the Florida local is sitting at the top of the leaderboard in the Wyndham Championship with a 5-stroke lead. He is also tied with Scottie Scheffler in taking the fewest strokes to complete 54 holes; i.e., 190. Going into Championship Sunday, Young is a firm favorite to win the tournament and make it into the top 30 of the FedEx Cup leaderboard.
Finally, to conclude his statement, the Wake Forest University alumnus stated, “Obviously, I’d love to make it. It hurt pretty bad to miss it a couple of years ago. I was ninth on the points list and didn’t get picked, so I was a bit frustrated with that. Set out the year to give our captain no choice, and I don’t know if I’m in a position to do that or not, but it would take some really good golf between now and then. But if I’m in the question, that’s been a big goal of mine, and I’d love to put myself there anyway.”
From 2021 to 2023, Cameron Young was in outstanding touch. He had 12 top-10s, which included 6 runner-up finishes. Some of his best performances included a solo runner-up in The Open 2022, a T3 in the PGA Championship 2022, a T7 in the Masters 2023, and a T8 in The Open 2023. The fact that 2022 was also his rookie season on the PGA Tour makes his record that much more impressive. Back then, he was a star in the making. Yet, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas were picked over him in the Ryder Cup, who were over 1000 and 1500 points behind him on the Team U.S. leaderboard, respectively.
This year, Young is not that favorable a position as he was in 2023. He is currently 19th on the Ryder Cup leaderboard, about 6000 points away from the top 6. A win at Greensboro will push him somewhere around the top 15. He has a couple more weeks to earn points in the FedEx Cup playoffs before Keegan Bradley will start deciding who to pick. Knowing how unfairly Bradley was treated back in 2023, he might sympathize with Young. But those might not be the right grounds to select someone to represent Team U.S.. However, considering that Keegan himself is pushing for a place in the team, you never know what drama we might see in the locker room.
At 190, Cameron Young sets a personal-best opening 54-hole score (previous: 197, two times) and breaks the Wyndham Championship opening 54-hole record (previous: 191/Carl Pettersson/2008/won).
Young equals the lowest 54-hole score of the season (190: Scottie Scheffler/CJ CUP…
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 2, 2025
Interestingly, both Bradley and Young were expected to be picked by Johnson back in 2023. But their exclusion shocked the fans and the experts alike.
Zach Johnson questioned for not picking Cameron Young
According to an article published by The Sporting News, apart from the top-6 automatic qualifiers, the reporter had anticipated who Zach Johnson would pick for his team. Based on their form and everyone’s expectations, the Captain’s Picks included Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, and Rickie Fowler. Brooks Koepka‘s involvement with LIV Golf meant he wasn’t being considered as a realistic choice, considering issues with the team dynamics.
However, everyone was shocked to learn that not only did Johnson not pick Young and Bradley, but he replaced them with Koepka and Justin Thomas instead. After a great 2022 that saw him win the PGA Championship, Thomas’s form had dipped a bit the following year. He rarely competed for any titles and was struggling with consistency. In the end, Thomas and Koepka managed 2 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws in the tournament. Fowler, whose pick was also heavily criticized, lost both his matches. He conceded a putt to give Tommy Fleetwood an advantage on Sunday. The English grabbed it with both hands and won the singles contest to give his team another point in the 16½ to 11½ thrashing.
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