By Jeff Mills, Special to the Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO — Wake Forest University alumnus Cameron Young fired a second-round 62 to reach 15-under par at the mid-point of the 2025 Wyndham Championship and take the 36-hole lead by two strokes over Mac Meisner, Sungjae Im and Joel Dahmen.
Young’s opening 36-hole total of 125 was the best of his career, and it tied the tournament’s opening 36-hole record Carl Pettersson set in 2008. It is the second 36-hole lead of his career. His second-round 62 equals his lowest round on TOUR since the second round of the 2024 Wyndham Championship.
On Friday, the clouds darkened, the horn sounded and the galleries scurried for shelter from the coming thunderstorms. Stormy weather suspended play on the Donald Ross-designed golf course at Sedgefield Country Club on Friday afternoon. In all, 78 players — half the field — were still on the course and had to finish their second rounds Saturday morning.
Young had just hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th hole, landing it softly 6 feet 3 inches below the cup when the horn blared. He’ll have all night to analyze his upcoming birdie putt. It’s a big putt, but he rolled it in for birdie to pick up right where he left off before the delay.
“I was fortunate when the horn blew,” Young said after completing his second round. “I had already hit on 16 and had hit a really good shot so got to come out to a pretty straight six‑footer, which in a sense made it easier, I think, to just keep going what I had yesterday. As much as a bummer as it is to stop when you’re playing well, the way I was looking at it, I was going to get a perfectly smooth green on an uphill six‑footer to start the day for birdie. I think it was as easy as it could have been to kind of keep some momentum.”
Young, a 28-year-old Wake Forest alumnus who turned pro in 2019, is chasing his first PGA TOUR victory. He has seven runner-up finishes in 93 starts on TOUR.
“I’m just trying to look at it in terms of lots of opportunities out there,” Young said after the second round was suspended. “I would obviously love to win a golf tournament. It would do a lot for me. But it’s not necessarily about this week. I’ve got a goal. In the middle of September, I’d like to be in New York playing on that Ryder Cup team. I’ve kind of tried to look at that. If I can achieve that, I can achieve a lot of things over these next four weeks.”
Young made seven birdies in 15 holes Friday, shooting 30 on the front nine and making back-to-back birdie putts on Nos. 14 and 15 before his final shot before the weather rolled in. His birdie on 16 was his eighth of the round.
South Korean star Sungjae Im and American Mac Meissner finished their rounds, and they’re tied for second at 12-under. Im shot back-to-back rounds of 64. Meissner, who is playing his sixth consecutive week, shot a second-round 63.
The Wyndham Championship is golf’s regular-season finale, and only the top 70 in FedEx Cup points qualify for the playoffs, which begin next week in Memphis. Meissner 152nd in the standings, needs a victory here to advance.
Like everyone outside the top 70, Meissner is taking plenty of chances.
“This is one of the few courses we play out here that has such severe greens,” Meissner said. “So there are spots where you’re able to be aggressive to some of the pins with wedge shots. But a lot times, being 10 or 15 feet below the hole is a lot better than being 6 feet above the hole. We’re trying to be aggressive, but we’re aggressive to a certain spot we’re trying to hit, and we’re trying to give ourselves the easiest putt we can.”
That sort of aggressive play is a hallmark of our tournament, summed up well by Patrick Rodgers second round on Friday morning. He shot an even-par 70 in the first round, then followed up with scintillating 63 to get himself safely inside the cut line at 7-under.
He started the week 68th in the FedEx Cup points and is defending his playoff spot.
“I’m very aware. It sucks to be on the bubble,” Rodgers said. “I’d love to be comfortably in, but this is the rush of playing competitive sports.”
With his back against the wall, Rodgers played his last 15 holes Friday in 9-under par.
“I’m really proud of myself. It’s been a dreadful summer,” he said. “I haven’t felt that far off, but it’s been a couple of months since I’ve played a weekend. … It’s hard not to feel pessimistic and down about it, but I kept believing in myself when it didn’t look very great. I’ve been working my butt off, and just to see some good golf based on that hard work is more rewarding than any of the playoffs stuff.”
It’s the drama within the drama of the Wyndham Championship. There are stories everywhere on the golf course.
