MIAMI: Cameron Young fired a bogey-free 64, eight-under par, to seize a two-stroke lead after Thursday’s opening round of the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge golf tournament.
The 27-year-old American, the 2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year who has yet to win a PGA title, sank eight birdie putts to grab the lead in the 20-player unofficial invitational event at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.
Two-time major winner Justin Thomas birdied four of the last five holes to shoot 66 to stand second while US compatriots Akshay Bhatia, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala and top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler were joined by Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg in a third-place pack on 67.
World number 38 Young, who fired a 59 in the third round of the Travelers Championship last June, has seven PGA Tour runner-up finishes, including at the British Open in 2022.
In his first start since August, Young sank birdie putt from 21 feet at the par-3 second, 13 feet at the par-5 third, 10 feet at the fourth, just inside six feet at the seventh and 16 feet at the par-3 eighth for a sizzling start.
“It’s a nice thing to come out and just feel like yourself,” Young said. “Really happy with it. I feel like with the driver I was just really comfortable and that’s a huge key out here. I drove it great.
“I’m sure I missed a fairway or two, but for the most part I was really well in position. Then I made a couple putts early, which was nice. Just kind of got off to a nice start with the putter.”
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Young added to it with tap-in birdie putts at the par-5 11th and 15th holes and a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th.
“There’s a bunch of par-5s and a couple drivable holes, so I feel that if you’re on top of it, especially off the tee, you can make a bunch of birdies,” Young said.
The long layoff gave Young time to work on his game.
“Just some work on myself physically and then just standard practice,” he said. “It’s a nice time to go back to all the really simple things and make them comfortable again, getting yourself really square, working on setup things.”
Sharing eighth on 68 were Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Americans Sam Burns, Nick Dunlap and Keegan Bradley.
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