MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 7, 2026

Cameron Young

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We're delighted to have Cameron Young with us here at the interview room. Cam, welcome back to Augusta National.

Congratulations on your great win at THE PLAYERS. Beautiful finish. Well done. How do you feel now getting ready for the tournament this week, particularly given your great success at the last tournament you actually played in, which is THE PLAYERS?

CAMERON YOUNG: I've had a really nice run of golf leading up to this event, and I've been fortunate enough to have the last few weeks off at home. Got to spend some time practicing, being with my family.

Yeah, I feel good. It's a week I always look forward to. It's always circled on the calendar. I feel like I've had a really nice opportunity to prepare for it. So looking forward to getting going on Thursday.

Q. What did THE PLAYERS do for you? You waited a long time for Wyndham to happen. THE PLAYERS seemed to take things to another level for you. What did that do confidence-wise for you?

CAMERON YOUNG: Yeah, it's certainly a confidence boost. It's more validation that, when I play well, I can put myself in those situations.

I feel like I've been in plenty of them over the last four or five years, and it's nice over the last eight months or so to have two of them kind of shake out my way.

The way that that final round at THE PLAYERS went was a really good example of, if you can keep yourself in it, things like that can happen, especially around challenging golf courses, big-time events. If you're around the lead, things can happen.

For a long time, it felt like I might always finish second in that scenario, but I kind of feel like that's a really good example of how that can go the other way and how you can end up holding the trophy at the end of the day.

Q. Knowing that you're a pretty private guy, when you win tournaments like THE PLAYERS, you're in this interview room, you're thrust into the top 10 in the world, what's your comfort level like with more attention being on you because of your golf?

CAMERON YOUNG: I feel like things really haven't changed that much, to be honest. I definitely feel that there's some more fan support out there, but there's not really any discomfort that's come with it. If anything, it's where I feel like I want to be within the game of golf and where I feel like I can be.

It's not really any level of discomfort with that. Some of the things like doing a press conference, it's a little bit more demanding on your time maybe, but it's not anything that you don't want to be doing. It's things you dreamed of doing as a kid. So it kind of comes along with playing the golf you want to be playing.

Q. What do you do for fun? Say you have an afternoon off. What do you do for fun?

CAMERON YOUNG: Honestly, most of it revolves around my family and my kids. We're so busy throughout the year, I think probably don't necessarily see the hours that we put in, especially tournament weeks. When we're out here playing, I'm gone for 8, 10, 12 hours a lot of days trying to prepare for Thursday, especially a major week.

The last three weeks I've had off, that's what I do. I spend time with my family. I spend time with my kids. I took a few days off, not actually practicing, which was really nice, and took my kids out to hit some balls. I've got a 3- and a 4-year-old boy, and it's kind of the first time they've had any interest in it. So that was fun just to get to see them trying something new and enjoying what I spend a lot of my time doing.

Q. Cam, I know you went to mass with the family on Sunday morning of THE PLAYERS Championship. Is that something you try to do every week on the PGA TOUR with the family, and could you just describe the role faith plays in you and your family's life?

CAMERON YOUNG: Yeah, our faith is very important to us. It's something that I feel like brings us together. It's very important, I think, for all of us to kind of have that part of our lives be a central portion of what we do, individually and as a family.

It's a nice opportunity for us to be together, to kind of share something together. Yeah, we find a different church every week. Wherever we are, we find mass to go to. That week it happens to be right by the golf course. So it's a little bit different pulling in in the tournament car, unloading my kids out, and having people kind of look at you the whole time.

I get a lot of really, really nice comments, people saying, hey, thanks for setting a great example for my children or whatever it is. Honestly it's great to hear because I don't feel like that's the case all the time, and that's one area where I'm really happy to be able to bring attention to that part of our life.

I just think it's a great opportunity to show other people that's what we do.

Q. Kind of looking at the stats, it seemed like around this time, maybe after this tournament last year, you took a big stride with your approach play, your iron play. Was there something you found kind of late April last year? Just describe the transformation in that part.

CAMERON YOUNG: Yeah, I think it's a few different things. We go through highs and lows mechanically, with feels, with confidence, and I think it's a combination of just that kind of turned around. We spend a lot more time working with how -- like as opposed to looking at all normalized numbers, we spend a lot more time looking where things actually came down with certain winds and trying to spend some more time understanding how wind affects certain shots.

I think that it's not necessarily that I physically got so much better, it's just a little bit of a combination with that and also just learning how to play some wind a little better and spending some more time just figuring out what actually happens and not what should be happening. I think that's kind of translated into some better iron play.

Q. How do you balance staying patient out here with playing aggressively?

CAMERON YOUNG: It's difficult out here. I think it's one of those places where, if you're playing very freely, you have a ton of opportunities. That can create a number of different situations.

The ideal situation is that you're playing well, you're giving yourself tons of chances, and you can remain patient knowing that more will come, but that gets hard when things start to go the wrong way.

It's difficult, but it's a long tournament. There's going to be highs and lows throughout the 72 holes that we play this week. You really just have to try to remain, I suppose, optimistic that you're going to have more and that each one that you make or miss doesn't make or miss your tournament.

It's really just a battle of trying to give yourself as many chances as you can and know that, if you continue to do that for the whole tournament, you should put yourself up there somewhere.

Q. Looking at some of the best wedge shots you hit on Sunday at THE PLAYERS, the shot at 7 and the shot at 15, it looked like you took a little more club and really controlled flight and spin in those situations. So then looking this week at the weather report where it's going to be dry, firm, not a ton of wind, and you're a high spin player, how does that inform your approach on strategy when you have short irons or wedges in your hand, the window, the spin you want to see those shots coming out of?

CAMERON YOUNG: I think the ability to flight it down at times can be really helpful out here just because the wind does swirl through the pines. A lot of the battle out here is trying to avoid some of the bigger misses, avoid some of the places that are undoable when the greens get fast.

It is definitely a tool, but each shot out here is so different. I feel that a change in hole location or wind direction, holes can play so differently, and there's just times where you have to really read the situation. There's some that will feel good where you know you can be aggressive, and there's some times that, even though you know you have 120 yards and it seems like it should be an easy shot, there's times where keeping it in front of you and making sure you have 25 feet for birdie instead of trying to get it closer is more important.

I think out here you have to play each shot on a very individual basis just given how much the wind can swirl and how much the greens can change over the course of the week.

Yeah, I'll probably do a lot of that, but there will be times too that you have to hit it up in the air and try to stop it. So it's very, very dependent shot to shot.

Q. We all have associations with Amen Corner and the emotions that those three holes evoke. In your own words, how would you describe Amen Corner and the role that it plays here at Augusta National?

CAMERON YOUNG: I think that stretch of holes can be an incredibly important turning point in your round. There's three holes that you can take a lot of confidence from, especially you get through 11 well. 12 is a huge test of commitment in my opinion. It's one of those where you don't have full control over the ball. The wind is always a little bit of a question mark.

So I think it's a really, really big opportunity to build some momentum in terms of just hitting solid, committed shots. Yeah, it's obviously a crucial stretch of the golf course, and there's times it can play difficult, there's times it can play a little bit easier. It's really just a matter of trying to hit your most committed, best shots of the day through there and kind of see what you can take from those holes into the last six holes of the day.

Q. Cam, you said last year it's about learning around here. This will be, I think, your fifth appearance. Is it a constant learning as you go, or what do you think is going to be your strength this week?

CAMERON YOUNG: Yeah, there is always some learning and some figuring out that you need to do over the first few days. There's always little changes that happen, and it's just a matter of kind of resetting yourself to know what you're comfortable with doing off each of the tees. That's the main thing for me.

I think there may be a strategical change or two -- a strategic change or two that we make just to try to maximize the opportunities we have to make some birdies. But I feel like I have been around it enough, I'm pretty comfortable for the most part with our strategy and with the tee shots out here.

That's the main battle is just finding a way to give yourself the most opportunities to hit greens and have putts for birdie and minimize some of the big mistakes.

Q. As a follow-up, Kyle, it's his first Masters. Are you trying to calm him down as you guys go this week?

CAMERON YOUNG: No, I don't think he needs it, to be honest. He's pretty comfortable with his role. He's done a great job. Yes, this week he's spent a little more time on his own out there walking and getting himself comfortable, but he's had time to do it, and I would expect him to be fully ready come Thursday.

Q. Do your boys have a pause at the top of their swing?

CAMERON YOUNG: No, no, not yet. Honestly, it's amazing watching them. Some of the things that just come naturally to a kid. The clubs are heavy for them, so they're kind of forced to use their whole body, and you see the big weight shift into the right, and then they kind of take a step with the left and do a lot of the things that we probably wish we could do. They make a pretty athletic move at it.

So no, no pause, but we'll see, maybe it will show up at some point.

Q. Do you look at yourself as the No. 3 player in the world? Are you any different as a player than after you won Wyndham or after you played in the Ryder Cup?

CAMERON YOUNG: I don't think necessarily. I think -- I have no idea what the stats would say, but I feel like I've played really consistent golf over the course of almost the last year really.

I think it's been a long road to get to No. 3. I spent a lot of time between 15 and 20 over the course of the last few years and then had a big dip the beginning of last year. So it's really been kind of a long march back up, and to finally be for the first time in my career a top 10 player in the world is pretty cool, never mind top 5.

Yeah, it's where I want to be. I feel like the golf I've played over the last year has really been good proof of that.

Q. Cameron, during those close calls, the second places, especially in majors, what kind of sustains you? Did you -- even if you didn't think so at the time, did you always look back and say there's a lesson to be learned with each one of those situations? And did that apply at Wyndham? Did that apply a couple weeks ago?

CAMERON YOUNG: I think if you look at all those times, none of the golf I played on Sunday was bad. I think it actually was really, really good. I don't know what my scoring average was on those Sundays when I finished second, but it's something, 68 or maybe 68-point something. In no case in any of those events did I throw away a tournament.

That's really the main thing that I could take away, hey, I played some great golf, and although I didn't win, there's no negative to be taken from that. Sure, I wanted to win. Sure, I wish I'd shot one better a couple of times, but at the end of the day, I was playing golf that was good enough to win tournaments. I just didn't have a day where something happened and I won.

THE PLAYERS, like I said before, is a good example of that. I don't think I necessarily played any better there than I did finishing second at the British Open in '22 or third at the PGA in '22. It just so happened that I kind of at the end of the day was given the opportunity to win by one instead of lose by one. I don't think it was particularly different.

Yeah, that's what I took from those.

Q. Cameron, you're on a good run -- the Wyndham, the Ryder Cup, THE PLAYERS Championship, you're world No. 3. Do you feel like when you walk around the golf course now you have a different respect you've gained from your peers, and how does that impact your confidence, if at all?

CAMERON YOUNG: I wouldn't say there's a huge difference. I think it's nice to have the recognition from winning a couple tournaments and playing well at the Ryder Cup. That's all well and good.

But I feel like, since I've been out, I feel like I've been pretty solid for the most part, and I feel like that's how I've been viewed. I don't really -- I don't sense much of a difference in how I'm treated or spoken to or anything like that. I have a group of guys that I'm friendly with, and they all really treat me about the same.

I feel like it's one of those things that they're your peers, they're who you're playing against. Everybody has respect for what other players have done. I look around the games we play at home or who I play with in practice rounds, and everybody has accomplished some pretty amazing things in the game of golf.

So I don't feel that I'm missing anything. I don't feel that now all of a sudden I'm some different guy and people treat you differently. It's really just more of the same from my perspective.

Q. You've always handled the emotional part of the game pretty well, at least in these last couple years, even at THE PLAYERS, kind of walking off 18 seemed pretty calm and subdued. Is that something that's come naturally to you, or did you have to work on that early in your career?

CAMERON YOUNG: Yeah, I think it's something we all work on constantly. My pretty level demeanor, I'm never going to get too high. Sometimes I'm prone to get angry, but you're never going to see -- especially if things are going well, you're never going to see much. It's really just a function of that's how I think I play the best.

I don't think there's any reason to, if you get on a good run, get super high. Inevitably something bad's going to happen, it just does, and there's no reason to have to come off of that high and try to go back. I'd rather just kind of take it as it comes and stay pretty level.

Q. You've been pretty open about the impact that Kyle has had on your career. I'm just wondering, if another pro came to you and was asking, "What's the difference that a caddie could make in my career?" what would you tell them?

CAMERON YOUNG: I think it is about finding the right fit. I've had kind of different style caddies throughout my career. I've had kind of every category that you could imagine. I think Kyle just came along at a really good time. He's one of my closest friends. He has a good head for the game of golf.

I think he's been a very important part of what's happened over the last year. Yeah, honestly, we're just enjoying it. We're enjoying doing it together. He works really hard. I'm really grateful to him for that. He's putting a lot of himself into it, and I'm doing the same.

So I think with kind of our heads in the same place and both trying to do our jobs the best we can, he's been great for me. I look forward to seeing what we can do through this major season and through the rest of the year.

Q. How much has your performance at the Ryder Cup led to your success this year?

CAMERON YOUNG: I'm sure that some of the confidence that I took from the Ryder Cup plays a role. I think that event's really good preparation for big moments. There's no real greater pressure or sense of gravity of a situation than you get at a Ryder Cup. That was obviously my first one.

It's kind of unlike anything I've felt before in a sense. I don't feel that physically I respond to the pressure any differently, but it's really good practice being in that moment because there's just more of it.

You might be nervous on Sunday at a major coming down the back nine, but it's rare that you're just at full nervousness from the first tee shot. So I think it's good preparation in that sense. You learn to deal with pressure right off the bat, and it kind of doesn't go away throughout the whole day. So you do feel like it's just constant preparation for being near the lead at THE PLAYERS or in a major.

In that sense, it's kind of helped me add more proof -- or proof to me that under those circumstances I can play some great golf. That's the main thing that I want to take from that. Obviously I would have loved a different result, but in terms of how I feel like I dealt with the pressure of that week, I feel like I did a good job, and it gives me confidence moving forward that I could do that in a different situation in a major, big event.

Q. As you've evolved, how has your dad evolved with you? He's been with you obviously every step of the golf way. When you won last month, how special was that? As euphoric as you were, how special was that to share that with him?

CAMERON YOUNG: It was great. He puts in so many hours on my behalf away from the course, on the course with us practicing. He's been there as my coach, like you said, really my whole life. He's been basically my only coach. Yeah, he's put so much into it.

So to see him able to celebrate some of the rewards of that is really, really cool. He's with me on the road all the time. You don't get to win that much. Even the very best in the game don't necessarily get the reward for all that work all the time. To get to share that with my family, with him was great. He's been a great coach, and he's a good father, good grandfather, and just really grateful that I was able to be there with him.

Q. How similar are your personalities, would you say?

CAMERON YOUNG: Very similar. I think if -- yeah, you can definitely see where I get the way that I am. He's very much like me. He's not prone to say a whole lot.

I think that's part of why it's worked, honestly. We have a very similar personality. We say things in similar ways, and I think that's part of why we're able to communicate about golf so well. As an instructor, he's great, and I think I just understand where he's coming from a lot of the time.

Q. Could you just describe your plan of attack at the 3rd hole this week, and has it changed since your first time here?

CAMERON YOUNG: The 3rd hole, I pretty much have just hit driver. The only time that I won't is to one of the left pins if it's into the wind. In that scenario I feel like I can't quite get close enough to hit a bump and run up the hill, and I'm not quite far enough back to fly it up on top. So that's the time I'll lay back.

Really to any of the other pins or in any other wind, I pretty much will hit driver up there and try to get it to the bottom of the hill. That shot, up the hill to the left hole location in particular is one we practice a lot.

It's just a play I'm comfortable with. I feel like that hole is an opportunity. If you've done your work around that green, I think that all the shots are really doable with the exception of kind of that one scenario. If I can't get within 30, 40 yards of the green and it's that left hole location, I probably will lay up on the right.

Q. Any piece of your game that you're particularly focused on dialing in, I guess in advance of this week or now in these next couple days, that would lead to success here?

CAMERON YOUNG: Nothing in particular. I feel like my preparation is similar to most other weeks that I'm on the road. This is a week that driving it well is very rewarding.

I feel like it's a place that doesn't require absolute precision off the tee. I feel like there's very few holes out there that are really narrow, but at the same time, good tee shots are heavily rewarded.

It's really a matter of, for me, being in a place where I feel like I can make a good free movement of the golf ball. If my swing feels like that mechanically, that's where I'm going to hit a lot of shots really out of the middle of the face. And I feel like that's more important to me than I feel like I'm so perfect right now that I can hit it exactly where I want.

I'd much rather have that free feeling, and that, I think, just leads to confidence out here. You do just give yourself a lot more opportunities and avoid some of the big mistakes. That's where you kind of gain your momentum out here.

Q. On the spectrum of this is just another week and this is a very special week, trying to soak it all in, where do you fall now, and where did you first fall when you started playing here?

CAMERON YOUNG: I probably fall more on the "it's just another week" side now, but even still, my attitude generally has been 51 weeks of the year it's the Masters and it's Augusta National, and this week it's my job. I'm going to do what I feel is best for me to prepare for Thursday.

I would love to get here last Saturday and play 18 holes a day just because you don't get to be here that much. I'd love to just play the golf course over and over again, but at the end of the day, I don't think that's best for me to play well Thursday through Sunday.

I'll take it much more like I do other weeks, and as much as I would love to just enjoy everything about this place, kind of the job comes first.