MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup have similar backgrounds and playing styles. They often play together when they are home in Florida.
The connection between the two helped keep the United States within striking distance of the International team in the Presidents Cup on Saturday.
“I think both of us, when in doubt, tee it up, hit it hard, go find it,” Young said.
That strategy worked quite well as Young and Gotterup combined for
two big points for the Americans after a disastrous Friday session against the Internationals. They beat Nick Taylor and Corey Conners 2 and 1 in fourballs and then routed Sungjae Im and Adam Scott 6 and 4 in foursomes in the afternoon at an increasingly difficult Medinah.
Playing with different partners, Gotterup dropped his first match on Thursday and Young lost on each of the first two days. But together they helped the U.S. trim its deficit to three points going into Sunday's singles matches.
“We’re different, but we play similar styles of golf in the fact that if he hits it in the rough, I’ve been in, like, a similar position where we’re not going to be in the fairway all the time just with how far we hit it,” Gotterup said. “It’s not uncomfortable in the spots we put each other in.
“We just have a connection through being from the Northeast and just playing golf, and then being from the same area, I think it helps.”
Young, 29, was born in Scarborough, New York, and Gotterup, 27, grew up in New Jersey. They both played college golf, Young at Wake Forest and Gotterup at Rutgers and Oklahoma. They also hit the ball a long way.
They both drove the 354-yard, par-4 No. 4 in their fourballs match on Saturday, and Young made a 39-foot eagle putt to give the Americans a 4-up lead.
“That’s just such a strong pairing,” U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker said. “The way those guys hit it, the way those guys played, they vibed today. They were having fun. Cam was making putts. Chris was hitting it a mile. It was fun to watch. Those guys have a long career in front of them in these things, and I’m glad we found that pairing.”
Young has two wins this year and is ranked No. 3 in the world. Gotterup has three victories and is ranked No. 7.
The duo got off to a fast start in each of their matches. They were 5 up through seven holes while downing Im and Scott in the shortest match of the week.
“We played a fourball match the other day at home, and he beat all of us on his own ball,” Young said of Gotterup. “Anytime you’ve got someone with that gear to go like that, it’s exciting. I’ve seen him do a lot of crazy stuff with the golf ball. It’s fun to watch, and he’s very, very talented.”
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