Cam Young provides update on his fitness after opening day of The Open Championship
· Yahoo Sports
Cameron Young’s Open Championship got off to a far better start than many were expecting.
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The American has had the season of his life in 2026, winning The Players and the Cadillac Championship already, but his high-hitting play style wasn’t expected to translate to the UK links of Royal Birkdale.
Instead, he shot an opening round 67 to bring himself to within two shots of the lead. That was in the windier conditions of the afternoon, so he’s in a phenomenal position for the rest of the championship.
That’s encouraging for Young, who has been struggling with a bit of a wrist injury in recent months. He provided an update on that injury after his round.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesCameron Young provides update on his wrist injury
Young was spotted playing with tape on his wrist back in April, which coincided with a slight decline in his performance. He was asked about this at The Open, but said it’s not bothering him out on the course.
When asked if he’s been healthy over the last few months, he replied, “Largely. I’ve had like the random colds and stuff.”
Reporters followed up by asking Young specifically about his wrist, and Young said, “Wrist is fine. It’s just kind of — it hardly even nags me at this point. It’s just there, doesn’t affect my golf. Yeah, anyway, I’m all right. I’ve had a few colds.”
Judging by his opening round performance, Young looks fully healthy and is ready to compete for the Claret Jug as the tournament progresses.
Cameron Young says if he learned anything from Rory McIlroy at The Masters
Young started the season in red hot form, winning The Players and finding himself in the final group with Rory McIlroy at The Masters. But since the PGA Championship Young hasn’t finished in the top 20 of any event.
He spoke about how difficult it is to marry his new expectations with his recent performances: “Yeah, it’s hard. I feel like I’m inclined towards frustration generally when I don’t perform really well.
“So, yeah, it does just come and go. It feels so easy. It feels like you wake up 2-under every day for a little while, and then for a little while it can go the other way.
“Really, this week’s a nice reset. You never know what you’re going to get conditions-wise. It’s a totally different style of golf. You’re hitting different shots. It’s a really nice chance to take things as they come and see — each shot is so different out here. You have to really just take each one as it comes. There’s nothing you can do. You can hit it into some weird spots.
Young didn’t get it over the line at The Masters, as McIlroy hit the shots down the stretch to win. You’d think that would be a valuable learning experience for him, but the American is struggling to see what lessons he can take from Augusta.
He said, “I’ve been in final groups before. I played with Rory before, not obviously at the Masters, but if you’re doing things well, you’re trying to treat all of them as much the same as you can.
“Yeah, that day, I wish I had just — I would love to say I wish I hung on a little better, but I played pretty well. It just was a day I didn’t make anything on the back nine. I think I hit the first eight greens on the back nine and had a bunch of reasonable looks and just missed them all.
“I would love to say I had something brilliant that I learned from it, but yeah, it’s just not as interesting of an answer as I’d like to give.”
After day one of The Open, Young has put himself in a great spot to be able to right those wrongs.