Cameron Young made a simple mistake on the green on Friday that will almost certainly keep him from making the cut at the PGA Championship.
Young, on the par-4 16th at Oak Hill country Club, was facing a nearly 60-foot birdie putt in the second round of the season's second major. He knocked that birdie putt to within a few feet of the cup, and then went to mark his ball – as it was blocking both playing partners Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama.
Since his mark was still in the way, Young then changed his mark to a clubhead side.
When it was his turn to knock in the putt, however, Young forgot to move his mark back to the original spot. That simple mistake resulted in a 2-stroke penalty.
“As a result, when he swung the ball and was out, Young played from the wrong spot and incurred the usual penalty (two strokes) for breaching Rule 15.3,” the PGA Championship Rules Committee said in a statement.
This suddenly turned Young's par into a double bogey. He made three bogeys and another double bogey the rest of the way, which dropped him to 9 overs for the week. The estimated cut was 5 over when Young finished his round. Although there would have still been a chance he could have entered the weekend without penalty, two extra strokes was all it took to ensure that his week in Rochester, new York, was over.
“We didn't know it happened,” said Fleetwood. via ESPN's Mark Schlabach, “To be honest, I feel bad because I told him to move his marker, so sometimes you're in your own little world. I always said, ‘Take it back.'”
Fleetwood and Matsuyama both finished with 1-over 71s on Friday, making both 3-over on the week.
The 26-year-old entered the week at No. 15 in the Official World golf Rankings, just two spots off his career-best ranking. He has yet to win on the PGA Tour, but he had five runner-up finishes last season — including the British Open — and already has three top-10 finishes this season. He also finished T7 at the Masters last month.