AUGUSTA, Ga. — The natural progression for Cam Young was to win his first major championship.
That progression, though, will have to wait.
Young came close yet again, but he could not chase down winner Rory McIlroy, finishing tied for third at 10-under par, two shots behind McIlroy.
When it was all over, Young lamented his putting as the difference between winning and going home disappointed.
“There’s no negative to take away other than obviously I would’ve loved a different result,’’ Young said after his round. “But in terms of the golf, I played plenty well enough to win and plenty well enough to win by a couple I think.
“I just didn’t make anything (putts),’’ he went on. “That’s the story of the week if you look through all four rounds. I had a chip-in (Saturday) yesterday and maybe made a putt or two over 10 feet and really that was it.
“I feel like I played the golf I needed to. I just didn’t have the day making anything at all. If you go through the back nine (Sunday), I pretty much had a birdie chance on every hole and didn’t make any.
“There were a few (holes) — 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, all right in a row. Any one of those or three of them could have gone in, it’s a different story. I hit the necessary shots and just couldn’t quite get it in the hole. That’s how it goes sometimes.’’
Young has been on the rise, capturing his first PGA Tour victory last year after having tied a record for most runners-up before his first win.
He won the Players Championship last month at TPC Sawgrass.
Then he stood at the first tee on Sunday tied for the lead with McIlroy
Young, at times, looked poised to win his first major championship. When he birdied the second hole, Young led the tournament.
A Young win and he would have been the third consecutive Players winner to win the Masters in the same year.
But it was not to be. He dropped a shot at No. 9 and parred his way home, ending in yet another close call in a major.
Young finished runner-up in the 2022 British Open at St. Andrews after shooting 65 in the final round, with an eagle on the 72nd hole to finish on 19-under par, but finished in solo second behind Cam Smith.
He finished tied for third in the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where he finished one shot out of a playoff between eventual winner Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris.
Sunday was Young’s third round playing alongside McIlroy this week, as they were grouped together on Thursday and Friday.
“He’s obviously a great player,’’ he said. “I watched him play three rounds this week. There is plenty to learn from him. At the same time, I would like to look back on this week more in the sense that I played great — well enough to win — and it just didn’t quite fall my way this time.’’
