Carson Young had a more laborious road to the PGA Tour than many of his competitors this week in the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
He finished his collegiate playing career at Clemson in 2017, and following five years on mini-tours and four failed attempts at the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, he said he was one tournament away from seeking other employment.
That tournament was the 2021 Korn Ferry Q-School.
“That’s grueling for sure. Tough on me, tough on the family, just spending money and being on the road all the time, trying to just have a chance to get on the Korn Ferry,” Young said. “I did that for five years, and it was going to be my last. I told my wife and family, this is going to be my last Q-school attempt.”
He got through the second stage to earn some status on the Korn Ferry in 2022, won his third tournament of that season in Panama and tied for 12th in the tour championship to help propel him onto the PGA Tour in 2023.
The 30-year-old is now in position to become a PGA Tour winner.
Young shot the low score of the third round Saturday with a 7-under-par 67 and takes a one-stroke lead at 13 under into the final round Sunday.
He is a stroke ahead of Harry Higgs , two strokes ahead of first round leader and second round co-leader Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, and three ahead of five players including Ryan Fox of New Zealand.
Due to forecasted inclement weather Sunday morning, starting tee times have been pushed back and all players are scheduled to tee off between 10 a.m. and noon off the first and 10th tees. Buses from parking areas will begin at 8:30 a.m. with gates opening at 9 a.m.
This is Young’s first solo lead heading into the final round of a PGA Tour event in his 79th start.
He was tied for the 54-hole lead last fall at the World Wide Technology Championship and tied for second.
He shot a 7-under 65 in the final round but came up a stroke short at 23 under behind Austin Eckroat, who shot a final-round 63.
“I’m here to win. That’s all I ever want to do when I play golf is to win,” Young said. “I’ve done it numerous times in my career. Not as many at the pro level, but I have done it, and I was in good position to win in Cabo in the fall and shot 7-under in the final round, just got beat. I feel like that was good prep for me and good nerves to be under. Same for Puerto Rico a couple years ago and John Deere last year, as well.
“I’ve learned a lot in those moments, and I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow and compete because that’s what I love to do.”
He earned $600,000 and secured full playing privileges for this season with the fall runner-up that included an 11-under 61 in the second round.
This season he has missed seven cuts in 12 events with a tie for 10th in the opposite field Puerto Rico Open his only top 25.
“I feel like my game has just been getting better and better for the most part,” Young said. “I’ve learned a lot out here, being my third year now. I feel more comfortable. I don’t feel as nervous. I feel like I know where to go, and I feel like I belong.
“Obviously this year hasn’t been the best year yet for me, and hopefully this week will turn it around and kind of get the ball rolling.”
Players trudged through rain for much of the afternoon, though Young teed off much earlier than the second-round leaders and didn’t have to deal with the heaviest downpours.
Young’s bogey-free round included five birdies and an eagle, and he played holes 13-16 4-under with birdies on 13 and 16 and a chip-in eagle on 15.
“I was kind of short-sided left in the rough, not where I was trying to hit it,” Young explained. “I was kind of complaining to my caddie, I was like, ‘I hit it in the one spot you couldn’t hit it in.’ I got up there and it was a pretty good lie, and just kind of opened the face, full swing flop shot and hope for the best and it came out perfect and it landed in the exact spot I was hoping it would.”
Being a Clemson alum, Pendleton native and Anderson resident, Young has a lot of support in the galleries with his wife and daughter, mother, brother, wife’s parents and her brother in attendance, among others.
“It’s been cool to have family out here and a bunch of support with friends,” said Young, a two-time South Carolina Amateur champion. “I hear a bunch of “Go Tigers” out there and guys that I haven’t seen in years but they’ve come out to support and say hey. And it’s cool to be here in my home state playing golf. It kind of just feels like old times.”
Young’s opportunity Sunday was made possible by the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Q-School.
“I ended up winning early on the Korn Ferry and kind of changed my perspective on golf because I felt free again and I was enjoying it again because it was a tough stretch,” Young said. “But I never really stopped believing. Just financially and mentally I was saying I was going to be done that year until I finally made it.”
Higgs made birdies on three of his final four holes to shoot a 68 despite playing through steady rain, and Sunday’s weather could be just as bad.
“I think I need to probably sit with my thoughts maybe with a cold beer and think about how I’m going to deal with tomorrow, especially if it’s going to be like today,” the affable Higgs said. “Because I did a pretty good job today, but boy, we were teetering on that edge of Harry was going to lose his mind and become a detriment to my own self.”
Higgs has three Korn Ferry Tour wins, including two last year when he finished eighth on that tour’s money list. He has a pair of solo runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour at the 2019 Butterfield Bermuda Championship and 2020 Procore Championship.
The last time he was in second entering the final round on the PGA Tour he finished tied for 12th at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.
“A little under a year ago, two times in a row I beat everybody that played in the golf tournament,” Higgs said. “Certainly you could say that the field this week is maybe a little bit better, but you’re splitting hairs there. . . . I just hope that it’s my time tomorrow.”
Fox had an up and down round to say the least. He birdied his first four holes to briefly take the lead, bogeyed the fifth and birdied the sixth, and made five bogeys, four birdies and a par over the next nine holes before making pars on the final two holes.
“It was a strange, strange day. But I’m happy I didn’t play my way out of the tournament making six bogeys,” Fox said. “I would have taken 68 to start the day. I’ve got a chance tomorrow, so that’s all you can hope for going into Sunday.”
Golf and graduation
Nathan Franks missed his graduation ceremony at the University of South Carolina in order to play in the Myrtle Beach Classic, so city of Myrtle Beach officials and state congressman Russell Fry worked to bring the graduation to him.
With his family members and girlfriend in attendance, Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune presented Franks with his degree and a cap and gown in a surprise ceremony Saturday in the media center following Franks’ third round.
“Thank you for choosing our golf tournament over your graduation,” Bethune said.
Because he made the cut to the weekend and will play in Sunday’s final round, Franks will have to travel to Washington state following his round to join his Gamecocks teammates in an NCAA regional that tees off Monday.
Franks said USC coach Rob Bradley has arranged for his transportation, with both private and commercial flight options.
“I’ve been worried about this week first,” Franks said.
The top 50 in the tournament are being granted five-hour flight credits from ONEflight. Franks is in the top 35 through three rounds, so he may be able to cash his in immediately.
The Roebuck native has won two collegiate events in 2024 and is ranked 81st in the World Amateur Rankings.
