Wyndham Championship Round 3: Cameron Young Builds a Five-Shot Lead

Cameron Young played 21 holes on Saturday at Sedgefield, and for one blistering stretch in the afternoon it looked like the Wyndham Championship might be over before dinner.

Young shot a 5-under 65 in the third round to reach 20-under 190, five shots clear of Nico Echavarria. That number came only hours after Young had finished off a bogey-free 62 in the storm-delayed second round that morning. According to CBS Sports, 20 under is the 54-hole scoring record for the event. Aaron Rai, Chris Kirk and Mac Meissner are tied for third at 12 under, eight back.

An Hour of Brilliance

The damage came early. Young ran off four straight birdies on the front nine, including a 30-footer at the fourth and a two-putt birdie from 20 feet on the par-5 fifth. At one point the lead was eight.

"Just played some really nice golf there for about an hour," Young said.

That might be the understatement of the week. After that burst, Young settled into a run of pars, which is exactly what a leader with an eight-shot cushion is supposed to do. The only crack came at the 14th, where a sliding 6-foot par putt missed. It was his first bogey in 39 holes, per the AP. Young answered with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th and a 10-footer for birdie at 17.

Through three rounds, Young has made 22 birdies against just two bogeys, by CBS Sports' count. The scoring line reads 63, 62, 65.

The Lone Chaser

Echavarria is the only player within eight, and he earned that spot with a 64. The Colombian made three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine to trim the gap to four, then added one more birdie before the round was done. The margin finished at five.

Echavarria entered the week at No. 65 in the FedExCup standings, so a strong Sunday is about more than chasing a trophy. It is about locking up a postseason ticket with room to spare. Asked about the gap, Echavarria kept it simple.

"I'm just going to worry about what I'm doing," Echavarria said.

The Weight of Seven Seconds

The history is impossible to ignore. Young has finished runner-up seven times since his rookie season in 2021, including at a World Golf Championships event and at the 2022 Open at St. Andrews. He is widely considered the best player in the world without a win on a major tour, and he knows how Sundays have gone for him.

Young's own read was that he has played good golf on Sunday in nearly all of those cases and simply been beaten.

The extra motivation is the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. Young grew up in New York, where his father was the longtime head pro at Sleepy Hollow, and in 2017 he became the first amateur to win the New York State Open, shooting 64 at Bethpage Black along the way. He was No. 9 in the 2023 Ryder Cup standings and was left off that team. A win on Sunday would move him up the U.S. standings and strengthen his case.

Bubble Watch Gets Loud

Behind Young, the race for the top 70 is where the drama lives.

Kirk entered the week at No. 73 and shot 67 to sit tied for third. Davis Thompson, who came in at No. 78, is tied for seventh. Gary Woodland, at No. 75, shot 70 and is tied for ninth. Woodland, who had brain surgery nearly two years ago, has played his way right onto the line. CBS Sports noted that Woodland and Thompson had both moved inside the projected cutoff with very little cushion, while Cam Davis slid to a projected No. 72.

Matti Schmid, who started the week sitting exactly on No. 70, played the final six holes of the second round in 5 under to finish a 65 and then shot 68 in the afternoon to sit tied for 13th.

The Højgaard twins are still alive after making the cut on the number. Nicolai began the week at No. 71 and Rasmus at No. 82, and both will need something low on Sunday.

The Rest of the Story

Joel Dahmen, the first-round leader, struggled to a 73 and fell to 9 under. Dahmen came in at No. 101, and CBS Sports had him projected at No. 88, inside the line to keep his card but still needing a top-two finish to reach the Playoffs.

Sungjae Im, who started the day three back, made a triple bogey at the second after finding out of bounds off the tee and shot 73. Jordan Spieth made double bogey at the seventh after a tee shot into the penalty area, then bounced back with a birdie at eight on the way to a 70.

The best story outside the leaders might be Jackson Koivun. The Auburn amateur shot 65 to reach 11 under, a weekend charge that put a college player squarely on the first page of the leaderboard.

Eighteen to Go

Young has a five-shot lead, a 54-hole record and a career's worth of near misses in the rearview. The tournament scoring record is also in reach; the AP noted a Sunday 67 would set it. Echavarria has the round of the day and nothing to lose. Everyone else needs help.

Sunday will decide two things at once: whether the best player without a win finally closes, and who gets the last tickets to Memphis.

Catch up on the week in our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap. Scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 3 story (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 story and leaderboard), AP, Golf Channel, CBS Sports, The Golf News Net. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.