Somehow, some way, Cameron Young is co-leading the 2026 Masters heading into Sunday’s final round at Augusta National. Despite opening the tournament with a 73 and trailing by eight shots after two rounds, he’s tied with Rory McIlroy with 18 holes to play.
But before Young goes to battle with McIlroy for the green jacket Sunday afternoon, he has a unique plan for Sunday morning. And it’s one that worked perfectly for Young at this year’s Players Championship.
He’s going to mass with the whole family.
Cameron Young says Masters Sunday won’t get in the way of church
Early in Masters week, Young expounded on a common practice he and his family go through most Sundays out on the PGA Tour: finding a local Catholic church to attend Sunday morning mass.
Young and family didn’t even skip church on Sunday at last month’s Players Championship. And it was a good thing they didn’t. Young went out and shot a 68 after mass to capture the biggest victory of his career at TPC Sawgrass.
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Contending at the “fifth major” might not be enough to get Young to skip mass, but what about leading the Masters?
Not a chance. Young revealed he plans to take his family to mass in Augusta before teeing it up in the final round, just like any other week.
Although as of Saturday night, he wasn’t quite sure which local church they’d find themselves in Sunday morning.
“I don’t know where we’re going to go yet, but we’ll find somewhere and take the kids. We’ll be out in full force just like usual,” Young confirmed Saturday evening at Augusta.
As to whether it will be hard to attend mass in anonymity since he’s co-leading the Masters, Young said, “It might, but it’s not going to stop us.”
We’ll have to wait to see if the Young family’s prayers can help their patriarch survive Amen Corner unscathed on Sunday.
Young on Sunday Masters crowds: ‘I don’t get the sense I’ll be the fan favorite’
Once he returns to Augusta National after mass on Sunday, Young knows he will have a difficult task ahead of him.
Maintaining composure down the stretch on Masters Sunday is no easy feat, but Young thinks his recent experience winning the Players Championship will help.
“I said it, I think in my press conference afterward [at the 2026 Players], that really what I was trying to do was get ready to be playing late on Sunday at Augusta. Now I’m here with what will be a late tee time on Sunday at Augusta, and that’s the best prep I could have asked for.”
So Young’s plan is to copy his “process” from Sunday at TPC Sawgrass and try and stay calm with the knowledge that all the contenders will have good and bad stretches in the final round.
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“I’ll try to run much the same process, same mindset as I did that day [at the Players]. I remember I did a great job of just staying where I was, knowing that everybody’s going to do some different things throughout the day. At some point most people are going to go on a run and most people are going to make a bogey or two.”
He continued: “There’s no saying when that will be for me, but at the end of the day, you just have to stay kind of in your lane and play the best golf you can and see where you are with a couple holes to go. There’s not really much you can change before then.”
As for the Masters patrons on Sunday at Augusta, Young has a strong feeling McIlroy, the defending champion and “world favorite,” will have a lot more support from outside the ropes.
“I don’t get the sense I’ll be the fan favorite, but yeah, I feel like the support, some fans that cheer for me have gotten louder over the last year. It will still be lopsided, I think. Rory’s kind of a world favorite in the golf world,” Young said. “A year ago, if I’d been in the same situation, there would have been very little, and now there’s probably a little more. So I’ll take what I can get, and I’ll be happy with that.”
No matter what happens on Sunday, Young is comforted by the fact that when it’s all over he’ll return to his wife and kids, as he does every week, and life will move on.
“I love having [his wife and kids] out and being able to have a more normal job. Instead of saying goodbye for three weeks or four weeks, whatever it is, I go work a long day, but I was with them this morning, and I will see them tonight. It’s nice doing that,” Young said.
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