Cameron Young birdied seven out of nine holes during the middle of Friday’s second round in Atlanta, charging up the Tour Championship leaderboard a day removed after being tied in last place.
He made a 41-foot eagle putt at the par-5 18th, finishing off an 8-under 62 to temporarily catch first round leader Min Woo Lee who completed his first hole a few minutes before Young’s day ended.
It was a remarkable turnaround for Young, who was just three players in the field to card an opening round 70. He bogeyed three of his first five holes and never recovered Thursday, despite a Round 1 scoring average that dipped below 67.
“I looked up and I was 2-over, and everybody was under par, and I was kinda contemplating my life choices a little bit,” he told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis.
“Yesterday didn’t feel that bad, got off to a tough start and wasn’t in the fairway enough,” he added, when asked how he was able to flip the switch.
He made nine fairways on Thursday, and was limited with the putter.
Round 2 was the complete opposite for the 2026 Players champ, who was the first player off the tee and posted a 30 on his front nine behind a string of three straight birdies from holes Nos. 4 through 6.
Young missed just one fairway during the round, enabling him with better spots to make 136 feet of putts from.
He went birdie-birdie to open his back nine — opening the possibility for a 60 or sub-60 score — before running into trouble at the par-4 12th. His first bogey of the round dropped Young to 6 under, where he stayed for more than an hour thanks to five consecutive pars.
Then came the big moment to finish the round — an eagle putt, perhaps his best of the season.
“You see 62 out here a lot of days, last couple of years there’s been one a lot of days and you have to be the one to shoot it on a day like to day,” said Young, who posted a 61 at the Rocket Classic earlier this summer and who won at the Truist in May.
The TOUR Championship brings this season’s top players to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta to crown the 2026 FedExCup champion.
Young played as a single for the first time in his Tour career Friday.
It was the fastest round of 62 or better in FedExCup playoff history.
“It’s one of those things you don’t really prepare for,” he told Lewis. “After a couple of holes, you’re just playing — and it was going well, and it was nice to be in our own bubble and just keep going.”
Lee had somewhat similar conditions a day earlier when he carded his own 62, tying a career low score in a single round.
Lee was playing with J.J. Spaun on the front nine, when the 2025 U.S. Open champ withdrew due to a right shoulder injury.
He called the scenario a “little bit weird” but found himself warming up to it, same as Young.
“[You’re] looking for a playing partner and you’re just there by yourself,” he described the scene after Spaun went off in a golf cart on the sixth hole Thursday. “It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out.”
Lee went on to par the opening four holes of his second round before a costly triple bogey at the par-4 5th dropped him down the leaderboard.
As of 4:30 p.m. Friday, Young was a shot off Ryan Gerard and Chris Gotterup’s lead at 9 under.
Gerard’s Round 2 playing partner, Akshay Bhatia, sits T-2 at 8 under with Young and Scottie Scheffler.
Young is the only player in the top 5 in the clubhouse.
Justin Rose, who sits T-6 at 7 under, got in with a 5-under 65 on Friday.
East Lake Golf Club proved fertile ground for low scoring on Thursday. Will the second round be as welcoming? Here’s when the action is set to tee off in Atlanta.
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