Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss Cameron Young’s Players Championship title, the potential for major changes coming to the PGA Tour and more.
Cameron Young shot a four-under 68 to win the Players Championship by one over Matt Fitzpatrick, while 54-hole leader Ludvig Aberg shot 76 and faded on the back nine. Did Young win this? Or did Aberg lose it?
Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): Both, I guess? It felt like about a dozen guys “lost it” at various points throughout the day, Aberg chief among them. But Young went and got it, too; his 17th and 18th holes were championship-worthy.
Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@schrock_and_awe): Yes? Cameron Young had to play excellent golf on a windy track with trouble everywhere to even have a chance to take this home. And yet, he still needed Ludvig to let go of the wheel. If Ludvig gets around in even par on Sunday, Young has to do what he did just to force a playoff. Ludvig opened the door and Young walked through and slammed it shut with his play on the final two holes.
Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): It’s both. Aberg had the chance to win it but when you shoot 76 from the final pairing on Sunday, you let the tournament slip away. But it works both ways. Take 17 for example: Fitzpatrick played to the middle of the green with a one-shot lead, while Young attacked the pin, stuck it to 10 feet, made birdie and then won the thing on 18 (and with the best drive of the day on the finishing hole). That’s going out and winning it.
Up until late last summer when he won his first PGA Tour event, Young was known as the tough-luck loser who had yet to win on the big stage. Now he’s got his second victory and a Players title. What’s changed?
Dethier: There’s a bigger-picture answer to this question — he seems to have found some winning mojo — but there’s a more specific answer, too. What changed is his putting. He has credited a caddie switch with changing his perspective on the greens, too; when he hired his college teammate, fellow Wake Forest Demon Deacon Kyle Sterbinsky, ahead of the Truist Championship last May, they found something right away. He’s been on an upward trajectory since.
Schrock: Agreed, Dylan. Young going from a poor putter who routinely missed short-range looks to one of the better putters on Tour has been the key. I do think that finally getting it across the line at the Wyndham and then backing it up by being the United States’ best player at Bethpage has also given him some added confidence.
Berhow: It’s a little mix of everything. The putting is obviously huge but the superpower so many of these guys have is that they think their best can beat anyone. You need that to be elite in any sport. And after he won the Wyndham Championship it had to feel like the monkey was off his back. That led to a huge week at the Ryder Cup and, now, his second win. Those little victories along the way can lead to big things in no time.
In a much-anticipated State of the PGA Tour press conference during the Players Championship, new Tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced his six pillars for a foundation of a new Tour (with nothing yet finalized). In short: a two-track competition system, a splashier starting event, bigger markets, promotion/relegation, match-play potential and more. (You can learn more about it here.) What were your initial thoughts regarding the pillars? And what bit specifically was most interesting to you?
Dethier: They sound good to me! But Sunday had me reflecting on one thing: for all the talk of finding bigger markets — which I support, to be clear — there’s still a lot to be said for leaning into the greatness of a mid-sized city. Jacksonville is the fourth-biggest metro area in Florida and a medium-sized TV market, but the Players is the event in town. I’m sure being outside New York can help sell corporate hospitality, but there’s a happy medium there, too.
Schrock: The biggest thing to me was Rolapp leaning into a lot of what golf fans and golf media have been clamoring for. I love that the idea is 120-man fields with cuts. The PGA Tour should lean into the cutline drama and build that up, especially on this two-track system. Sign me up for promotion and relegation as well. I still have a lot of questions about the two tracks and the money and how it all works. I like going to big media markets but also don’t want to see the PGA Tour completely abandon smaller cities with history. On paper, what Rolapp laid out sounds great but I will await the next address in June before really getting out over my skis.
Berhow: Overall it’s a big step forward. I love that match play might be involved in the playoffs, because switching the format every couple of years like we have isn’t the answer. I guess one lingering question I have is about the two-track system with the Korn Ferry Tour also still existing. I know we want to condense the golf schedule and make events mean more, but when you think about two leagues playing above the Korn Ferry… that’s still a lot of golf, even though one is obviously the top league. I guess my point is we need to miss golf to really have people fall in love with it. I’m skeptical this will do that, but I’ll wait to learn more before I lose sleep over it.
If you’re a member of the Tour, what about this plan might you love? And what might you not be a fan of?
Dethier: If you’re a member of the Tour I think you’d generally be in favor of these changes; the fact that the Tour is sticking with 120-player fields instead of chasing further reductions (like some of the current Signature Events, which feel empty by comparison at 70-something) is a welcome compromise. But there will be players who resist change, who are skeptical that fewer tournaments will yield greater attention, who feel like there are fewer seats at the big table. But the Tour is leaning into meritocracy. That’s a good thing for whoever is playing the best.
Schrock: Rolapp seems to have done a good job of appeasing all segments of the membership. As Dylan noted, some of the guys will not be thrilled about fewer tournaments but I think expanding to 120-man fields is a big win for the “middle class” of the Tour. If the second-track or PGB Tour gets similar purses to what standard PGA Tour events get now ($8-10 million) it should keep almost everyone happy.
Berhow: The elite guys will play a little less and for more money, which I think they’ll like. If there are any players who might not be thrilled it’s probably the guys who are used to being in the top 100ish but who might be playing out of the second track, which could be a little hit to the ego (and bank account). But it’s also guaranteed playing privileges? So who knows.
If Average Joe Fan is sitting at home and wondering what all these proposed changes mean for them, what would you tell them?
Dethier: If I’m optimistic it means you’ll get some clarity about which tournaments are actually top-tier PGA Tour events and which ones aren’t. I’m hopeful that this is the PGA Tour schedule coming together in its final form, at last. For now. Maybe. We’ll see.
Schrock: I’d say we’re tracking toward getting a schedule that gives you a group of events with all the big-name players that should come with bigger stakes than the current PGA Tour delivers. You’ll also get some extra golf on the second track if you’re interested. But we’ll see if Rolapp can make all of this come together. It always looks good on the PowerPoint. Execution is sometimes much harder, especially with so many stakeholders at the table.
Berhow: There’s still lots of golf on TV every weekend but one tour will be better than the other?
More noteworthy weekend result with the Masters one month away: an up-and-down T22 finish for Scottie Scheffler, who seemed off his game at TPC Sawgrass; or Bryson DeChambeau winning overnight at LIV Golf Singapore?
Dethier: Scottie’s the bigger deal because we expected DeChambeau to come into major season in good form regardless. It seems likely that Scheffler will, too — but he has a few fixes to find between now and then. Scheffler pounding balls in the rain after Thursday’s round will be one of my enduring images from the week. It’ll be fun watching him find what’s next.
Schrock: It’s Scottie. There’s clearly something going on between the driver and the dip in approach play. It’s officially a concern with a month to go. My only note on LIV Singapore is that the sun sleeves have got to go.
Berhow: Let’s go with both, because Scottie has not played to his Scottie Scheffler standards lately, but here’s what’s crazy. For as “off” as he has seemed the last month, his finishes this year are (starting with the most recent): T22, T12, T4, T3, 1. The takeaway is that this version of Scottie is still really good, and as soon as he gets his driver sorted I imagine he’ll be back to the guy we know well. He’s got a little time off now to work on some things. As for Bryson, it’s not nothing! DeChambeau playing well in the lead-up to the Masters is good for the sport, and he’s finished in the top six in his last two Masters starts. Bryson contending at Augusta would be a lot of fun.
What was your biggest Players Championship takeaway?
Dethier: The PGA Tour has been looking for its third star — non-Scottie-and-Rory division — for a while now. I’m not saying Cam Young is there, but he’s certainly entering the conversation. Also, let the Players be! It’s not a major. It’s its own thing. That thing is big and fun and important and chaotic. I enjoyed this edition.
Schrock: Ludvig will win a major this year and be the third star Dylan mentioned by year’s end. He played brilliantly for the first two days, was smooth on Saturday and things got away from him on a course where this is carnage all around. That has happened to countless people at Sawgrass. He clearly found something at Pebble and I think he’ll knock off a few big events this summer. Honorable mention to Brooks Koepka, who is trending and was a couple scruffy holes on Friday away from being in the mix on Sunday.
Berhow: Watching Ludvig struggle on the back nine on Sunday made me think I might like him even more for the Masters. Sometimes it’s good to get this stuff out of the way, learn from it and move on. And I agree with Dylan. We can have four majors but also have a Players Championship, which is a very good tournament! Few things are more exhausting than this major/non-major conversation, but of course we will just have it again next year.
