For Cameron Young, PGA of America ties make this major special

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- Cameron Young is No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking and one of three players to win multiple times on the PGA Tour this season.

He's arguably the best, or at least the hottest, player in the world who's yet to win a major title.

If that major win were to come this week at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia, it would carry some extra meaning for the New York native and son of a teaching professional.

Young's father, David Young, was the longtime head professional and director of golf at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in their native Westchester County, N.Y. David's membership in the PGA of America was instrumental to getting Young hooked on the game and playing junior tournaments from a young age.

"The PGA Championship for our family is a great week," Cameron Young told reporters Wednesday. "My dad was a PGA of America professional forever. I think kind of embraced the whole package of that. He was at a great club in New York, worked on the rules committee. So, yeah, this week is special for us."

Cameron Young said his dad served as an official at several PGA Championships over the years, including 2016 at Baltusrol in New Jersey. This did not means special perks for the youth.

"I was outside the ropes like everyone else," he said.

His dad isn't his only connection to the PGA of America. Young's childhood friend, Chris Gabriele, is now the head professional at Old Westbury (N.Y.) Golf & Country Club.

Gabriele is one of the 20 PGA professionals who qualified for this year's championship.

"We got to play nine holes yesterday, which was nice. Haven't seen him in a couple years," Young said, revealing that Gabriele worked for his dad at Sleepy Hollow for a while after college.

"Yeah, great to see him progress through the ranks in the PGA section up there. Yeah, really excited for him. He's always been a good player, so no surprise that he qualified at some point. Yeah, just really excited for him."

Young's family and friends will watch him pursue his first major championship as one of a handful of pre-tournament favorites.

Young won The Players Championship in March for the biggest trophy of his career, and two weeks ago he beat runner-up Scottie Scheffler by six shots at the Cadillac Championship, a signature event.

Young, 29, also tied for third at the Masters, already his seventh top-10 finish at a major since 2022. And while this will be his first start at Aronimink, Young's experience with Northeast golf could work in his favor.

"I liked it. I feel like it's very, very classic Northeast," Young said. "The grasses are very familiar. The rough is pretty thick, but I feel like it's a nice combination. The fairways, they're not super narrow, but they are firm enough that if you hit bad shots that land in the fairway, they can get in the rough or if it's shaped incorrectly.

"The greens are definitely tricky. You have to kind of know what slopes you're landing on. ... I think, especially if we get a dry week, it could be pretty firm by the end of the week, and that will be a lot of fun."

--Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media