Cameron Young, who has seven second-place finishes but no victories in his short PGA Tour career, is in position to become the 1,000th individual to win a PGA Tour event.
The 28-year-old former Wake Forest standout will take a five-shot lead over Nico Echavarria into Sunday’s final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club. Defending champion Aaron Rai, Chris Kirk and Mac Meissner are tied for third, eight shots from the lead.
Though he’s the player with the most runner-up finishes without a victory, Young said the pressure for a first victory hasn’t been uncomfortable.
“Not really. If you had asked me two years ago I’d probably say yes,” Young told reporters. “But if you go back through, I finished second a bunch, I’ve gotten beat a lot. I haven’t — I’ve played some good golf on Sunday in really all those cases.
“So that’s all I’m trying to do tomorrow. I’m starting in a nice spot, so I’m just looking to try to beat second place by as many as I can. That’s been my mindset from the first tee on Thursday and that’s what I’m going to try to do tomorrow.”
Young, 20-under-par 190 for the tournament, shot 5-under 65 Saturday afternoon in the third round after making two birdies on four holes while finishing his second-round 62 in the morning. The tournament record is 22-under.
In three days, CBS television may have been the only thing capable of slowing down Young, who shot 31 on the front nine before CBS assumed third-round coverage from Golf Channel.
Though Young taken control, amateur Jackson Koivun, a rising senior at Auburn, has also grabbed attention, moving into sixth place at 11-under after shooting 65 Saturday.
Following Friday afternoon showers, which included a half-inch of rain and suspended play, greens were more receptive to approaches. Sami Valimaki and Matti Schmid holed second shots for eagle on the 402-yard 17th hole.
Young couldn’t have a much better opportunity to break through with a victory in his 94th PGA Tour start. This year, no third-round PGA Tour leader has lost a lead of more than three strokes.
Despite the big lead, Young said he plans to stay aggressive and keep making birdies.
“Frankly, I’m probably not going to pay much attention to my position,” he said. “I know that there is an 8-, a 9-, a 10-under out there and I’d like to be the one to shoot it as opposed to someone in second or third place.”
With four straight birdies, beginning at No. 3 in the third round, Young took a commanding lead that stretched to as much as nine strokes at one point in the front nine. He then made seven straight pars before making his only bogey at 14.
Echaverria has two PGA Tour, though neither came on U.S. soil. The Colombian shot 31 on the back nine for 64, capped by a 6-foot birdie putt at 18.
“I’ve just been calm,” Echavarria said. “I haven’t let anything rattle me.”
Rasmus Højgaard made Saturday’s best comeback, shooting 29 on the front nine (he started on No. 10) after carding 41 on the back side. The Dane made triple-bogey on 11. He eagled No. 5, sandwiched between birdies at 3,4 and 6.
Young and Echavarria will tee off at 1:55 p.m. in Sunday’s final twosome.