What the PGA Tour rules staff admitted about Cameron Young’s penalty after reviewing the footage

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

While nothing was more impressive than Cameron Young’s performance at the Cadillac Championship this past week, the American deserves enormous credit for calling a penalty on himself during the final round at Doral.

It was quite clear going into Sunday that the chasing pack were going to need a helping hand if they were going to stand any chance of catching Young.

The 28-year-old began the last round with a six-shot lead. And it seemed that there may be a slight opening on the second hole, with Young backing away from his approach shot and immediately calling in an official.

It turned out that Young’s ball had moved as he prepared to hit the shot. While he did not believe that he had caused it to move, he accepted a one-shot penalty.

What PGA Tour officials said about Cameron Young’s penalty during the final round of the Cadillac Championship

He still went on to make a par. And in truth, the penalty did little to create any more drama, with Young able to stay well clear of all of his rivals.

He definitely made the right decision calling in an official straight away. It would have been a huge shame for Young’s emphatic victory to have any sort of asterisk against it.

But it seems that he probably would have got away with it had he not been so honest. Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman revealed what the officials he spoke to said about the incident afterwards.

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

“Shout to the gentlemen of the game of golf. We have to give a big tip of the cap to . I think what happened on the second hole yesterday where his golf ball rolled over a fraction, and just how his mental game has changed, to be able to handle a situation like that and be like, oh gosh, your head could spin and you could start to think this isn’t going to be my day,” he said.