Cameron Young fired a 61 and briefly chased golf history, grabbing a share of the Rocket Classic lead as stars surged and major names missed the cut in Detroit.
Cameron Young spent Friday morning threatening to do something no golfer has ever done on the PGA TOUR. By sunset, he had settled for a share of the Rocket Classic lead - and one of the most absurd “what could’ve been” rounds of the season.
Young opened his second round at Detroit Golf Club by birdieing seven of his first eight holes. At that point, the world’s No. 3-ranked player wasn’t merely thinking about breaking 60.
“I was thinking 55,” Young said.
He didn’t reach that science-fiction number, but Young still signed for a bogey-free, 9-under 61, matching the Detroit Golf Club record and climbing to 10 under. Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn joined him atop the leaderboard after matching rounds of 66.
Somehow, Young walked away slightly irritated.
“You hate to call it a disappointing 61,” he said.
The frustration made sense. Young said it felt as though he had a 10-foot birdie opportunity on nearly every hole. He couldn’t convert enough of them on the back nine to threaten Jim Furyk’s PGA TOUR-record 58, set in 2016.
Young already owns a 59 from the 2024 Travelers Championship. A second sub-60 round would’ve placed him alongside Furyk in an exclusive piece of TOUR history.
“It felt like I had a 10-footer for birdie on pretty much every hole,” Young said.
The Rocket Classic leaderboard is far from a three-player race. Matt Wallace fired a 64 and Rickie Fowler posted a 68 to sit two shots back. Fowler briefly reached 11 under before three back-nine bogeys erased his solo lead.
“Nice to finish with birdie on 18,” Fowler said. “A lot of good stuff today and nice to be in a good spot for the weekend.”
Peter Malnati couldn’t reproduce Thursday’s opening 61, following it with a 71. He remained three behind alongside Xander Schauffele, who shot 66.
Hideki Matsuyama extended the PGA TOUR’s longest active cuts streak to 30 at 5 under. Tony Finau also reached that number with a 67 as the 2022 champion fights to climb from No. 87 into the top 70 of the FedExCup standings.
Matt Kuchar supplied the day’s best scene. He made his seventh career hole-in-one with a 9-iron from 156 yards, then invited a young fan inside the ropes and handed him the signed ball.
The course wasn’t nearly as generous to everyone. U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark finished 5 over, while world No. 7 Chris Gotterup and Akshay Bhatia also missed the 3-under cut.
Young chased 55 and left with only 61. That’s how ridiculous Friday became in Detroit.
