Cameron Young made sure that Rory McIlroy won’t have it easy to defend his Masters title.

Before heading into the final round, Young revealed what he has been focusing on the most.

“Yeah, I saw that. I mean, I think this golf course, there are plenty of opportunities, but it's just a matter of kind of staying in my own lane, doing my own thing. Everybody's going to have their runs, and it's just a matter of kind of waiting around for yours and then seeing what you get.”

Young’s rise through the leaderboard was impressive.

Beginning with a 1-over 73, Young scored 7-under 65 in the third round. As McIlroy stumbled at the Amen Corner, Young closed off an eight-shot deficit at the top. Talking of what he focused on during the tournament, he said,

“I feel like we've been pretty disciplined into the greens. You know, there are some wedges, but there's plenty of difficult holes, too. So if you're in control, I think it's best to just kind of stick to what you're doing and, you know, make the easy pars when they come,” Young said.

Young’s game improved as the rounds unfolded. McIlroy and Sam Burns led at the end of the first round, and then McIlroy had his historic lead at the end of 2nd. Unfazed by the others, Young climbed up the ranks by playing his own game and not taking unnecessary risks, as he revealed.

Young hit eight birdies and just one bogey in the third round. As McIlroy hit his shot into Rae's Creek, leading to multiple bogeys and a double bogey, Young tied with him at 11-under par.

Young will look forward to keeping things as they are and hopes to continue his spectacular form.

Cameron Young Comments On The Augusta National Greens

Coming into the week, the greens were a topic of discussion for the golfers and everyone around Augusta National. The dry conditions were expected to create extremely fast-paced and firm greens, demanding a lot of precision from the players.

“I think they're really nice in the sense that they've been -- they were really consistent today to me, and I feel like that allows you to make some shots when you're going to get a predictable bounce based on what shot you hit. For the most part, I feel like we did a good job of judging that,” Young said.

Hitting 16 of 18 greens on Saturday, it’s fair to say that Young has been solid in his approach and would definitely want to do the same in the final round.

Will McIlroy clinch 2nd Masters trophy in a row, or will Cameron Young wear the green jacket for the first time in his career? Drop your predictions below!

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Kalp Thaker