Cameron Young shoots 59 at Travelers Championship; 12th golfer in PGA Tour history to card sub-60 round

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT - JUNE 22: Cameron Young of the United States plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 22, 2024 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
By Brody Miller
Jun 22, 2024

Cameron Young shot a 59 at the Travelers Championship on Saturday for the first sub-60 round on the PGA Tour in four years, becoming just the 12th player on the PGA Tour to ever achieve the feat. At the signature event on the par 70 TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, Young’s 11-under par round was enough to take the solo lead before the leaders tee off.

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Young, 27, opened the third round going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie to immediately start 5 under through four holes. The eagle came on a par 4 in which he holed out a 142-yard shot. He then birdied 8 and 9 to round out the front nine in just 28 shots and birdied 13 to put himself at 8 under.

On the drivable par-4 15th hole, Young hit an epic iron shot that rolled up to the green and landed four feet from the pin to set up a short eagle putt. Another birdie on 17 sealed the sub-60, and Young parred 18 to put himself in the record books.

It’s the first sub-60 round on the PGA Tour since Scottie Scheffler’s 59 at the Northern Trust Open at TPC Boston in 2020 and just the 13th total round under 60. The lowest ever is a 58 by Jim Furyk played on the same course at TPC River Highlands in 2016. Furyk also shot a 59 at the 2013 BMW Championship. He did not win either event.

It’s been a low-scoring week overall in Connecticut. Tom Kim opened with a 62, and Robert MacIntyre shot another 62 on Friday while Collin Morikawa shot 63 on the heels of a 28 on the front nine. Five golfers were at least 10 shots under par through two rounds.

Golf has seen a run of such scores lately across tours. Cristobal del Solar shot a 57 on the Korn Ferry Tour this season for the lowest-ever round on a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau shot a 58 last summer to win LIV Greenbrier, and fellow LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann shot a 59 to win in Mexico.

For Young, it’s a promising step in an up-and-down year. Young broke out two years ago when he finished T3 at the PGA Championship and solo second at the Open Championship all at 25, followed by a T7 at the 2023 Masters months later. He seemed poised to become one of golf’s next big stars, and he’s had a good run overall ranking No. 23 in OWGR, but Young hasn’t quite broken through as expected.

Young has yet to earn his first PGA Tour win, and despite a great start in 2024 including a T9 at the Masters in April, Young hasn’t placed better than 34th in the six tournaments since.

(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)

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Brody Miller

Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @BrodyAMiller