Cam Young is playing what is perhaps the biggest weekend of his professional golf career.
Three weeks ago, 28-year-old knocked the monkey off his back by earning his maiden PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship. Now, he’s two strokes back of Tommy Fleetwood’s and Russell Henley’s 36-hole lead at the season-ending Tour Championship. If Young comes from behind for the victory, not only will he claim his second Tour win, but he’ll also be the season-long FedEx Cup champion and secure a hefty payday.
But one more accolade will likely follow: a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in New York, roughly an hour from where Young grew up.
That’s at the forefront of Young’s mind.
“I’ve been saying for the last bunch of weeks now that my goals were get here [to the Tour Championship] and get there, to the Ryder Cup,” Young said after a second-round 62 at East Lake. “I’ve done part one, and part two I think involves some good golf here.”
The first six automatic qualifiers were finalized after last week’s BMW Championship. And on Wednesday after the Tour Championship, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley will make his six captain’s picks.
Young is currently No. 14th on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list. That can be attributed to a slow start to the season, in which he had only two top 10s until June. Since then, though, he has five in eight starts, finishing first, fifth and 11th in his last three events.
He believes his recent run strengthens his case.
“I think recent form is kind of a hard one to deny,” Young said. “Aside from that, it’s my home state, it’s a golf course I love. It’s almost exclusively a major championship venue, and my major record is pretty good [six top 10s in 18 major starts]. I think there’s a few points that if I had to make my case to him, those are things I’d like him to know.”
It also helps that Young shot a course-record 64 in the final round of the 2017 Metropolitan Open at Bethpage Black, becoming the first amateur to win the event.
And all that has Young on Bradley’s radar.
“He’s been incredibly encouraging to me,” Young said. “He’s obviously watching everybody very closely, and he’s been very kind to reach out and show some enthusiasm and some support when I’ve played well.
“But yeah, I know he’s got a lot on his plate, so I don’t expect a ton from him. But he’s been very nice to me, and I appreciate any consideration he’s given me to putting me on that team.”
First, however, Young has 36 more pressure-filled holes at East Lake to convince Bradley that he’s worthy of a selection.
“I’ve just got to do my best to keep that up over the next couple days and see what I get out of it,” he said.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cam Young Is Playing for More Than the FedEx Cup Title at the Tour Championship .