5 things we learned Friday at the 2023 John Deere Classic

Cameron Young has been knocking at the door so often his knuckles have to be bruised.

With a little less than two full PGA Tour seasons under his belt, the 26-year-old has already finished runner-up six times in 45 starts. After rounds of 65-64, the Wake Forest product is back in the mix once again and holds the lead at 13 under, two shots clear of Adam Schenk (66), Garrick Higgo (66) and Brendon Todd (65) who are T-2 at 11 under.

Earlier this week, Young mentioned how he has never really choked away any of his previous close calls, and as he looks to earn that elusive first win, he knows the key is to keep the pedal down over the weekend.

“There’s a lot of golf left, and there’s a lot of people that are three and four shots behind me, and that can go away really quick,” said Young, who noted how after birdieing his first three holes Friday morning he was tied at the top before 18-hole leader Jonas Blixt had even teed off.

“It’s a golf course that is very scorable when you are in control, but if you play it kind of loosely, it’s not that easy either,” he said. “I think it’s just remaining really committed to what we’ve planned on for how to play the golf course and just keep myself in each shot as much as I can.”

Caddie Paul Tesori, who picked up Young’s bag back in March, has looped for previous winners at the John Deere Classic like Vijay Singh and Sean O’Hair, and Young sees him as a weapon.

“He has a wealth of golf knowledge and course knowledge for everywhere we go on the PGA Tour. He is a massive resource for me in that way,” added Young, who noted Tesori’s past success at TPC Deere Run doesn’t necessarily apply this week. “His previous boss, (Webb Simpson), I hit it just a little farther than him. He is by no means short, but there’s just a couple of places where that 15 yards makes a difference. Paul is having to relearn a little bit of that. I spin the ball a lot more.”

“I feel like we’re really getting there. We’ve had our really good and really bad moments I feel like,” he continued. “All in all, it’s been amazing, and he works so hard and knows so much that he has turned into a huge resource for me, even in this short period of time. I trust him.”