A change in attitude fuels Young’s rise

A couple of years ago, Cameron Young looked like a player getting in his own way.

All the talent was there. The power. The shot-making. The contention on Sundays. But so was the frustration, the visible unraveling when things didn’t go his way. It was costing him.

At that time I wrote a column on Young (Florence Morning News, July 18, 2024). It was titled “It’s All About Attitude, Dude.” Here are key paragraphs describing what I saw in a PGA Tour event I was watching, without mentioning Young by name in the piece:

“Tuning in around the 14th hole of the final round, one player was becoming totally frustrated, breaking his driver and taking himself out of the tournament with his negative attitude. His drooping shoulders and muttering about his putts not dropping had him on a losing trajectory, even though he was only one shot out of the lead at the time.

“On the 17th hole, the negative player hit the green with two great 3-woods (due to his broken driver). He virtually gave up before he even putted, thereby three-putting for par and berating himself the whole way.

“As the negative player was finishing the 18th, the TV announcer said the player needed to do a lot of mental training to recover from this debacle, not to mention take his game to the next level. It would seem to be no coincidence that he has finished second seven times while never winning during that stretch, as talented as he is.

“Golfweek described the negative player in the aforementioned tournament as being ‘just one stroke back when he cracked the shaft of his driver in anger on the 14th hole. He brooded on the greens too as his balky putter let him down, and he settled for a 73 and a T-6 finish.’”

Obviously, I was not the only one noticing and commenting on Young’s behavior. Someone clearly got through to him, because he is now a very different player. That is not to say he has become warm and fuzzy or a crowd pleaser. He remains intense and serious while playing, focused within his competitive mindset.

The difference is that he is now under control, rolling with the challenges golf throws at him, staying engaged until the end and winning.

Since his change in attitude, he quickly won his first tournament at the Wyndham Championship in 2025, followed by a Players Championship victory at the beginning of 2026. He also recently played in the final pairing at the Masters, where he represented himself well through the final round.

Most importantly, he maintained his composure and persevered through the final putt.

In that earlier column, I wrote, “The likely difference between a good player finishing second instead of first is attitude. A player needs everything working in order to get over the hump and into the winner’s circle. Attitude is Job No. 1.”

Cam Young got that job done, and it is the difference between who he was and who he has become.

Dr. Tom Dorsel is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and a clinical/sport psychologist on Hilton Head Island. His best-selling book is “GOLF: The Mental Game.” Reach Dr. Tom on Facebook or at tom@dorsel.com.