Young jumps to early lead at Albany
Cameron Young surged to a lead early in his round at Albany, Bahamas and never looked back. On the strength of eight birdies, Young posted an 8-under-par 64 to set the pace after the first round of the 2024 Hero World Challenge.
“I drove it great. I’m sure I missed a fairway or two, but for the most part I was really well in position,” Young said after his round. “Then I made a couple putts early, which was nice. Just kind of got off to a nice start with the putter. There’s a bunch of par-5s and a couple drivable holes, so I feel that if you’re on top of it, especially off the tee, you can make a bunch of birdies.”
Young carded five birdies on the front nine and another three birdies on the back nine. A few key par saves along the way helped him avoid any trouble during the round.
“The one on (No.) 12 is really as close as I came to having [a bogey],” Young said of his ability to save par. “(On No.) 13 I had a really tricky chip, kind of had to play it over the sprinkler heads from right of the green. Yeah, a three?footer. I pitched it close on the next hole. That’s really as close as I came to making a bogey.”
Playing in the final pairing of the day, Justin Thomas made the turn to the back nine sitting at even par. Then it all changed. Birdies on the 10th and 11th holes got Thomas going. After two consecutive pars, Thomas ripped off four birdies in a row before closing with a par on 18. A back-nine 30 vaulted Thomas to second after the first round.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler carded a 5-under 67 in the opening round of his title defense.
Scheffler is one of a host of players trying to stay close with Young at 5-under. This group also includes first-time participants Akshay Bhatia, Sahith Theegala and Ludvig Åberg. For Bhatia, competing in The Bahamas is a familiar experience. In 2022, Bhatia won The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“I feel like most of the volunteers know me and they call me by my last name, so that’s pretty cool,” Bhatia said following his round. “I think, too, having Hero MotoCorp sponsor this event, being an Indian company, is pretty cool. I see people that are more my culture and kind of respect what I’m doing. It’s pretty quiet out here, but you still get a little bit of the warm feeling here.”
Round two of the 2024 Hero World Challenge tees off at 10:55 a.m. ET on Friday, December 5. Coverage of the second round can be found on GOLF Channel from 1:30-4:30 p.m. ET, with weekend coverage on GOLF Channel and NBC.