Former State Am champ Carson Young brimming with confidence after near miss on PGA Tour

Good news: Two-time South Carolina Amateur champion Carson Young entered the final round of the PGA Tour’s World Wide Technology championship tied for the lead and fired a sizzling 7-under-par 65.

Bad news: Austin Eckroat surged from behind with a final 63 to seize the title.

Good news: Young, a former stalwart at Clemson who lives in Anderson, vaulted to 86th in the FedEx Cup standings to secure full playing privileges for next season and earned more than $600,000 for sharing second place.

Bad news: Had Young triumphed — his final-round performance would have won most tournaments — he would have earned a two-year exemption and a tee time in the 2025 Masters.

Summary: “I played so good that I can’t feel too bad about (not winning),” Young said. “I had a great week. I had a putt to tie (on the final hole), and the experience will help me going forward.”

Young, now No. 135 in the world rankings, spent the final round “focusing on his own game.” He played so well that he was surprised to discover on the 17th hole that he trailed Eckroat by three shots.

“He played one hell of a round,” Young said. “Congrats to him.”

But Eckroat bogeyed the par-5 finishing hole and Young could’ve force a playoff with an eagle.

“I had a green light (to go for the green with his second shot) and I hit the green,” Young recounted. “Having a putt to tie is all I can ask for. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it.”

But he heads for the season’s final two events brimming with confidence. And no wonder. His week included an 11-under-par 61 in the second round.

“One of my best rounds ever,” he said. “I hit my irons really well. I hit everything close. I made every putt I looked at. If there’s such a thing, it was an ‘easy 11 under.’ ”

Young completed his Clemson career in 2017 and turned professional, but success did not come quickly. He needed five tries to get status on the Korn Ferry Tour, won a tournament in Panama and advanced to the PGA Tour for the 2022-23 season.

In his two PGA Tour seasons, he has posted five top-10 finishes and 14 top-25s. He started the current year quickly and cooled at midseason before sharing fifth in the John Deere. And now comes another lofty finish.

Success on the PGA Tour has been his dream since discovering golf at Boscobel Country Club near his home in Pendleton. His family focused on tennis, but one look at golf hooked Young on the game.

He won the South Carolina Amateur at the Woodcreek Club in 2013 before he enrolled at Clemson, and he added a second State Am title at DeBordieu in 2016.

“It’s been a long climb,” Young said. “Playing on the mini-tours wears you out mentally and physically. I finally got status on my final go (at qualifying).”

He works with Hilton Head-based teaching professional Tim Cooke, and their current focus is on his short game.

“Driving and iron play,” Young said in noting his strengths. “I’m not the longest hitter (off the tee), but I’m pretty accurate. My ball-striking overall is pretty steady. If I can improve my short game, that’ll free me up more.”

Reflecting on his two PGA Tour seasons, Young said, “I always knew I was good enough.”

Oh, and about that good-news, bad-news chatter, there’s even better news: Young and wife Riley are expecting their first child, a girl, in March.

Chip shots. Former Dutch Fork High and USC star Wesley Bryan continued his fall surge by sharing sixth in the World Wide Technology event. Now at 128th in the FedEx Cup standings, he needs to advance three more spots to 125 to secure full status for 2025. ... Tickets for the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage presented by Boeing are on sale at www.rbcheritage.com, and tickets for the Myrtle Beach Classic will be available beginning Nov. 20 at www.myrtlebeachclassic. The Heritage, long a fixture on the Tour’s schedule, will be played April 17-20 at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, and the Myrtle Beach event, in its second year, returns to the Dunes Golf and Beach Club course May 8-11. ... The three-player amateur team from Spartanburg’s Carolina CC combined to win the SCGA’s Lathrop Cup. In the pro-am competition, teams from Mid-Carolina Club (Prosperity) and Fort Mill GC tied for the title.