Cameron Young lit up Augusta National on Saturday to card eight birdies and reel Rory McIlroy in at the top of the leaderboard.
The World No.3 and recent Players Championship winner at TPC Sawgrass made a solitary bogey in his 65, which saw him climb from four-under-par up to 11-under and secure a final round tee time with the defending champion.
The New Yorker got a couple of lucky breaks in round three, when his ball kicked off a patron onto the green on 9 and out of the trees back onto the fairway on 13, and perhaps it’s written in the stars when you realize he went out in 40 on Thursday.
That score of 40, four-over-par, is the exact same score Woods made in 1997, when he won the Green Jacket at the age of 21 to become the youngest champion in history.
Woods is the only player in Masters history to have shot 40 on the front nine in round one and go on to win.
Young was four-over after 11 holes this week and has played his next 43 holes in 15-under-par. He is also the first player in Masters history to overcome a 36-hole deficit of eight or more strokes to move into a share of the 54-hole lead, having shot 65 to McIlroy’s 73 on Saturday.
McIlroy and Young are tied at the top after 54-holes of the 2026 Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Another trend Young is looking to continue is that of The Players Champion winning The Masters. It has happened in both 2024 and 2025 with Scottie Scheffler two years ago and Rory McIlroy last time out.
The Ryder Cupper is hoping his experience at TPC Sawgrass, where he pipped Matt Fitzpatrick by a single stroke, will come in handy in the final round.
“I think in my press conference afterward, that really what I was trying to do was get ready to be playing late on Sunday at Augusta,” he said.
“Now I’m here with what will be a late tee time on Sunday at Augusta, and that’s the best prep I could have asked for.
“I’ll try to run much the same process, same mindset as I did that day. I remember I did a great job of just…
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