LOS CABOS (Mexico) – Cameron Young can’t seem to stop feeling that way since he teed off with Justin Timberlake during Wednesday’s pro-am event at the World Wide Technology Championship. To borrow the title and catchy lyrics of one of Timberlake’s hit songs.
Young stated, “I had no idea that I was playing with Justin Timberlake.” “I thought it must have been someone else named Justin Timberlake when I saw the name on the scorecard, but it wasn’t.”
Young, a day later on a sunny, warm day with no wind, couldn’t control his birdie-making instinct at El Cardonal Golf Course in Diamante. He channeled the power of Tiger Woods, the designer of the course, and he dominated the course by making seven birdies. Young shot a 7-under 65 to finish one stroke behind the early leader in the first round, shared by Camilo Villagas and Michael Kim.
Young makes his first appearance in the FedEx Cup Fall. He last played at the BMW Championship – the second of three FedEx Cup Playoff Events that took place in August. His game showed no signs of rust, as he hit the fairways, and depending on who counts, all 18 of the greens.
Young commented, “I don’t think it was that close. I didn’t hit every green within regulation.” It’s been what feels like years since I was home that long. It was a lot of fun to try out some new things and to work through some problems that I thought I had. I hadn’t done that in a while. I’ve learned a few things about my golf swing. It’s great to see them work out in their first competitive round.”
The Official World Golf Ranking (and No. Young is the top-ranked player in this week’s field. He is ranked No. Young, who is ranked 18th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings this week, is the highest-ranked golfer in the field. He’s only two places behind Tommy Fleetwood as the world’s best-ranked golfer without a PGA Tour win. Young, 26, admitted that he used to be anxious about his first victory but now he doesn’t stress out anymore.
He said, “I’ve come to terms that I have played enough golf here in the United States that is worthy of winning an international golf tournament.” “Obviously, that hasn’t happened yet, but I believe I’ve played enough good golf to win a golf tournament here. “I’ve let it go a bit, and now I’m more focused on getting better.”
Michael Kim, of the United States, plays his shot on the sixth tee at the World Wide Technology Championship, at El Cardonal, at Diamante, on November 02 2023 in Cabo, Baja California Sur. Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images).
Michael Kim won the John Deere Classic in 2018, but his quest to win a second title was a long, winding journey. The former Cal Bears’ golfer has had a rocky road since his one victory. He missed 25 consecutive cuts at one time and fell outside the top 1000 in the world. Kim, 30, is back at No. The week began with 118 and a 64.
Kim described the round as “super solid”. “I went into trouble only once or twice today. It was a solid day and I could have shot lower if I had made a few more putts.”
Villegas, a four-time Tour winner who has not won since 2014 but still has four Tour titles, shot a 64 without a single bogey. The 41-year old Villegas shot his lowest score since 2022’s second round at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He also hit all 14 fairways, the first time he had done so since the final round of 2007’s RBC Canadian Open. Villegas made only 10 starts this season and has missed three cuts. His best finish was a T48 at the Puerto Rico Open. He entered the week ranked No. The FedEx Cup rankings have Villegas at 224.
He said that “low scoring is out there, as you can see from the leaderboard, and it’s going be a week like this, so we have to keep pushing.”
