British Open 2026: Cameron Young got aggressive on the final hole. It may have cost him the claret jug

SOUTHPORT, England — Cameron Young gave it everything on Sunday at the Open Championship. A front-nine 29, a birdie on 14, another on 17 and he was tied for the lead as he stood on the 18th tee. But a high quality, controlled round of golf—which could have seen him match the lowest final-round score in major history (63)—ended with a stumble as he hit driver off the tee only to find a fairway bunker, barely escaped the sand and finished with a bogey.

And when Ryan Fox came down the 18th hole nearly 2½ hours later, making a birdie, Young’s slip-up left him in solo second, one shot away from being in a playoff to claim the claret jug..

“I felt like I had a chance to get the second one on the green [on 18],” Young said after posting a 64 to get into the clubhouse at nine-under 271. “It was only 160-something yards to the front. So I felt like there was an off chance I could get something on the front edge.”

Starting the day in a tie for 20th, he immediately played his way onto the leaderboards at Royal Birkdale with a hat trick of opening birdies. Another followed at five and suddenly, he found himself in the hunt.

“I knew right off the bat, ‘OK, you're right there.’”

With the wind freshening on the back nine, Young looked bulletproof. Par saving putts, low-rising irons off the tee, fairways, greens and a charge that saw him tied with Si Woo Kim arriving at his 72nd hole.

A discussion with his caddie and college teammate, Kyle Sterbinsky, resulted in driver being pulled. The same approach he used in the third round, finding the fairway bunker, making a bogey and dropping off the same leaderboards he was now atop of.

“Driver is aggressive there,” Young later admitted. “The only option to take out all the bunkers is to leave yourself like 265 in, which didn't feel that smart to me either. I just figured go ahead and try to hit a good one.”

The drive found the same bunker. A decent lie but the same bunker. Thinking that 10-under par was the score he needed to potentially win The Open, he stayed aggressive, pulling a six-iron with the goal of hitting the green.

Things did not go to plan.

He caught his second shot slightly thin and looked up to see it hit the face and rebound into the right rough. The shock on his face was clear.

His third shot trickled into the greenside bunker and whilst his attempt at par from the sand came very close, he dropped his first shot of the day and finished nine-under par.

“I really felt like 10 had a good chance to win the golf tournament. It was just trying to win the golf tournament.”