Cam Young, standing over his approach on Doral’s par-4 2nd Sunday at the Cadillac Championship, began to take the club back. Then, he suddenly stopped.
“Can you call an official for me?” Young said.
The world No. 4 thought he saw the ball rotate forward in his backswing.
“I touched the ground,” cameras caught Young saying, “but I don’t see how that would make it move forward.”
Cameron Young called a one-stroke penalty on himself on No. 2 Sunday @Cadillac_Champ after causing his ball to move at address.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 3, 2026
He still saved par and maintains a five-shot lead.
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With preferred lies in effect due to rain in the morning, Young was able to clean and place the ball back in the fairway. However, that might have caused his club to push grass forward, thus moving the ball.
Even though Young was unsure if his ball shifted, golf is a game of honesty. And if he did indeed cause the ball to move, it’s a one-stroke penalty.
Such was the case.
After the round, Young explained the situation.
“It’s just one of those, your heart sinks when you see it move,” he said, “but it moved and that’s part of what golf’s about. There was no one that was going to give me a penalty there but myself and I think I had about four of those on the PGA Tour now, so I need to start setting the club down a little softer. But yeah, just one of those times. I mean, I wasn’t going to look the other way and say it didn't move when it rolled over an inch forward, so just unfortunate, but handled it really well.”
Indeed, he did. Young hit that shot inside 15 feet and saved par, maintaining his five-stroke lead.
Then, topping Scottie Scheffler by six strokes, Young became the first wire-to-wire winner of a Tour event at Doral since Andy Bean at the 1977 Doral-Eastern Open.
Having built up such a substantial lead, the New York native didn’t have to sweat losing a stroke. And perhaps his easy victory was a reward for his honesty.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cam Young Calls Penalty on Himself While Leading Cadillac Championship on Sunday.
