Whether Cameron Young’s one-stroke penalty on Doral’s second hole was the right call can be argued on Monday. One thing was clear as the tournament’s eventual wire-to-wire winner walked off the green with an impressive par save: No karma points were lost.
Young said he saw the ball rotate forward when he started his back swing during his approach shot to the par 4. He stopped, unsure if he had caused it to move, and called for an official.
The final round of the Cadillac Championship was played with preferred lies so Young had been able to clean and place the ball on the fairway. Because of the improved lie, Young didn’t know if placing his club behind the ball led to the grass pushing the ball forward.
“The ball just rolled over forward,” said Young immediately after the ball moved, and asked for an official to be called.
“I touched the ground,” he said seconds later, “but I don’t see how that would make it move forward.”
Did he cause it to move or was it moved by natural forces? That was the crux of the issue, the broadcast highlighted.
“I don’t know for sure,” Young told the official.
With little else to go on, the official ruled that Young had caused the ball to move when he placed his club behind it. The result was a one-stroke penalty (violation of Rule 9.2). Unfazed, Young rifled his now third shot inside 15 feet and made the par save.
Cameron Young received a one-shot penalty after his ball moved during his setup in the 2nd fairway ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SpQzwlxzNT
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 3, 2026
Young birdied the third hole, and went on to solve the Blue Monster behind a -19 under 269 — six strokes better than Scheffler, who finished second for the third time in a row.
“That’s part of what golf is about. There was no one that was going to give me a penalty there but myself,” Young said assessing himself a penalty on the second hole after the round concluding. “I wasn’t going to look the other way and say it didn’t move when it rolled over an inch forward. Just unfortunate, but I handled it really well.”
The final grouping’s tee time were moved up due to inclement weather in South Florida on Sunday. Young and Scheffler played with Si Woo Kim.
Young nets $3.6 million, with Scheffler scoring $2.16 million.
Young is set to play in the Tour’s sixth signature event of the season next week at Quail Hollow. Scheffler is taking the week off and not playing in the Truist Championship.