What the PGA Tour rules staff admitted about Cameron Young’s penalty after reviewing the footage

While nothing was more impressive than Cameron Young’s performance at the Cadillac Championship this past week, the American deserves enormous credit for calling a penalty on himself during the final round at Doral.

It was quite clear going into Sunday that the chasing pack were going to need a helping hand if they were going to stand any chance of catching Young.

The 28-year-old began the last round with a six-shot lead. And it seemed that there may be a slight opening on the second hole, with Young backing away from his approach shot and immediately calling in an official.

It turned out that Young’s ball had moved as he prepared to hit the shot. While he did not believe that he had caused it to move, he accepted a one-shot penalty.

What PGA Tour officials said about Cameron Young’s penalty during the final round of the Cadillac Championship

He still went on to make a par. And in truth, the penalty did little to create any more drama, with Young able to stay well clear of all of his rivals.

He definitely made the right decision calling in an official straight away. It would have been a huge shame for Young’s emphatic victory to have any sort of asterisk against it.

But it seems that he probably would have got away with it had he not been so honest. Speaking on The Smylie Show , Smylie Kaufman revealed what the officials he spoke to said about the incident afterwards.

“Shout to the gentlemen of the game of golf. We have to give a big tip of the cap to Cam Young . I think what happened on the second hole yesterday where his golf ball rolled over a fraction, and just how his mental game has changed, to be able to handle a situation like that and be like, oh gosh, your head could spin and you could start to think this isn’t going to be my day,” he said.

“By the way, I asked the PGA Tour rules staff, did you see the golf ball move on your video review? They said no, they weren’t able to conclusively see it. So it is just what Cam Young’s eyes saw, and having to say I have to accept this one shot penalty even though he didn’t touch the ball. It’s just the nature of the game, respecting not only the game, but also the field and just being able to live with yourself.”

When a penalty contributed to Cameron Young missing the cut at the PGA Championship

Young knows the feeling of receiving a retrospective punishment having missed the cut during the 2023 PGA Championship.

He moved his marker ahead of a two-foot par putt during his second round to ensure that it was not in the way for Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama.

The problem was that he forgot to put it back in the right place and putted from the wrong spot. He was subsequently handed a two-shot penalty – though there was no suggestion that he made anything other than an honest mistake.

Young ended up missing the cut by four shots that week at Oak Hill. However, he would have been forgiven for wondering what would have happened had he not received the penalty before the turn.

With Young boasting such a commanding lead at Doral, he was in a position where he could ensure that the case was closed almost immediately.

Obviously, you would imagine that Young would have behaved in exactly the same manner had he been leading by one. But his advantage probably did help him move on from any frustration quickly.