Cameron Young’s impressive (other) drive, Bryson DeChambeau’s latest viral fall and Jordan Spieth’s all-time relatable golf quote

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we are proud of ourselves for finally watching five Oscar-nominated movies, sorry, FILMS, in the past month. Mostly thanks to banging out four of them on two cross-country flights. So I was a real expert during Sunday night’s Academy Awards as (Company plug alert!) WBD cleaned up with “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” combining to win 10 gold statues. But nothing made me happier than seeing “The Wire” and “Friday Night Lights” alum Michael B. Jordan (I’m more of a TV guy) win for best actor. And to tie this to golf, he was spotted on a golf course at least once:

If MBJ still plays, he should bring the Oscar to use as a ball marker next time. Talk about a badass move. OK, let’s talk about people who play golf for a living now.

WE’RE BUYING

Cameron Young: And now to golf’s gold trophy winner. How about my fellow NYC/Westchester/Wake Forest guy? There’s no rooting from the pressbox, but … GO DEACS! What an incredible performance, particularly down the stretch as Young birdied TPC Sawgrass’ famed island 17th and then hit one of the greatest tee shots in golf history (our Jamie Kennedy makes a compelling case) on 18 to capture the Players Championship:

The dude hit the longest shot on 18 EVER in the biggest moment of his career. Insane stuff. Talk about coming up clutch. And this from a guy who used to have a rep for doing the opposite under pressure after racking up a record seven runner-up finishes before earning his first PGA Tour title last August.

But this could be a real FLOODGATES situation for the 28-year-old—especially after Smylie Kaufman predicted a big season for him on The Loop podcast earlier this year. And Smylie doesn’t miss. Well, unless he’s playing TPC Sawgrass’ 17th hole at night. Anyway, as if I couldn’t like Cameron Young more, check out this tweet from Golf Magazine’s Zephyr Melton:

Dig your style, Cam. Although, I’d suggest booking flights earlier to avoid being stuck in a middle seat.

The Players: Everyone is sick of the “fifth major” debate, but there’s no question that this tournament delivers major drama every year. Not to mention a worthy champion. And the entertaining—and demanding—golf course is the biggest reason why. But it’s been particularly that way since the event moved back to March. Take a look at this incredible stat from DataGolf:

Major or not, if you can call yourself the Players champ, you’ve done something really right.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju: If you were a golf fan confused by seeing this name on the leaderboard on Sunday, don’t feel bad. The 24-year-old Indian-born player who grew up in Canada emerged as the biggest winner aside from Young this week.

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Kevin C. Cox

The self-taught Yellamaraju learned the game by watching YouTube videos, and he earned his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour last year. And now, in just his eighth career PGA Tour start, the lefty finished T-5 at the tour’s flagship event to essentially earn as much money ($925,000) as he had made since turning pro in 2021. Heck, the guy doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page yet. But at this rate, that should change soon.

WE’RE SELLING

Ludvig Aberg’s Sunday back nine: Through 64 and a half holes, this guy looked unbeatable. The young Swede had cooled off in the final round a bit, but he still held a two-shot lead and had just hit a perfect drive on the par-5 11th. But a stunning water ball with his second shot and another on his ensuing tee shot opened the door for Young to pick up a breakthrough win:

It all showed that even a seemingly robotic golfer with a perfect swing can come undone under pressure.

Hostile golf crowds: At one point during the broadcast, NBC’s crew stated the Players “felt more like a Ryder Cup.” Sadly, this wasn’t always a good thing as England’s Matt Fitzpatrick had some American fans turning against him down the stretch. To the point that Young said Fitzpatrick turned to him on 18 and said, “Cam, do you hate me, too?”

To be clear, I have no problem with crowds having favorites. And it makes sense that an overly American crowd would pull for their own in that situation (Although, I don’t think it would be as obvious with other more popular Europeans like Aberg or, obviously, Rory McIlroy). But rooting against someone in golf is crossing the line. And it puts international players at a significant disadvantage based on the fact that almost all of the biggest tournaments are played in the United States. That being said, Fitzpatrick handled the situation great:

And it’s good to see that TGL teammates stick together through thick and thin. Texas forever New York Golf Club forever.

Missing a two-foot putt: In particular when about $2 million is on the line. Such was the case for Richard Lee, who missed this bunny in a playoff to lose the LIV Singapore event to Bryson DeChambeau.

Ouch. Although, that $2.25 million second-place check was still pretty nice. Also, how about Bryson’s reaction to Lee’s miss?

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Is it too late to give him an Oscar? (Mostly kidding, because Bryson’s sportsmanship is great.) Anyway, LIV’s last three winners are Anthony Kim, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. Pretty snazzy.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour’s Florida Swing concludes with the Valspar Championship, AKA that one with the SNAKE PIT. The LPGA Tour returns to the United States with the Fortinet Founders Cup, while the DP World Tour starts its Asian Swing with the Hainan Classic. And the TGL semifinals are tonight. Meaning it’s another chance for a certain stats major and team manager to shine. Oh, and the PGA Tour Champions is in Arizona for the Cologuard Classic, which is doing a great job raising awareness for colon cancer. To talk about that and a bunch of other things, we had Jerry Kelly on this week’s episode of The Loop podcast.

Random tournament fact: Cameron Young was a runner-up at the Valspar Championship in 2024. He’s done pretty well since.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Cameron Young will be flying in a middle seat in 2026: 4.5 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Cameron Young will win the Masters: 27-to-1 odds (Down from 35-to-1 odds)

—Cameron Young will smile more than usual this week: LOCK

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Dahmen wasn’t able to earn one of the only two available spots at that Monday qualify, by the way. Don’t let the millions of dollars doled out last week at TPC Sawgrass fool you. Pro golf is a (really) tough gig.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

One tournament volunteer wound up with an all-time picture:

Great stuff.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (AWESOME DIVISION)

And just like that, we’re into Masters mode!

You really can’t go wrong with a Masters hype video, but this one was particularly well done.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (FAIL DIVISION)

Bryson DeChambeau fell into a bunker in Singapore:

This is the same guy who got clotheslined by a gallery rope a few years ago. Again, get this man an Oscar. His on-screen performances are electric.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

For the first time, Cameron Young’s kids got to see him win a golf tournament:

David Cannon

Awww. Young said he planned to make a four-hour drive home with those three young kids after winning Sunday night, which is more stressful than any four-hour round of golf. If Cam did all that in one day, then he’s a major champ in my book.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION?

We’re not sure if Wyndham Clark was hitting on Kay Adams here, but either way, this was a WILD analogy:

And he might be moving on from that driver after finishing 65th of those who made the cut in strokes gained: off-the-tee.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

Gronk took his crack at the 17th hole:

Doesn’t look like he’s been playing enough golf in retirement.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Never. Have you ever played golf?” —Jordan Spieth gave an all-time relatable answer when asked if he was going to be able to focus on the positives after ending a second consecutive round with a double bogey.

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Hannah Green on winning the Women’s Australian Open for her second win in three weeks. She’s also the first Aussie to win the event since 2014. … Brian Rolapp announced a bunch of potentially sweeping changes to the PGA Tour ahead of the Players. And I’ve never seen Golf Twitter so united about something. … And, finally, in non-golf news, congrats to our boss, Sam Weinman, and his son, Will, on winning the state hockey tournament—and Will being named tournament MVP!

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That’s Will top-right next to the coach. I can’t believe I’m old enough to say “I remember when he was a baby!” about a co-worker’s kid who is now a senior in high school. Anyway, now it’s onto golf season for the young man! … And speaking of children, a very happy eighth(!) birthday to our youngest, Julia: