Cameron Young switches fairway wood as USA fall behind at Presidents Cup

Cameron Young has made a subtle but notable change to his bag at the Presidents Cup, putting a TaylorMade Qi4D fairway wood into play in place of the Titleist GT1 he had used throughout the 2026 season, according to Golf Monthly.

The 3-wood carries a Mitsubishi Tensei White 1K Pro shaft, a change from the Mitsubishi Diamana PD 80 TX shaft fitted to his Titleist model. Young had used a mix of the GT1 and Titleist mini drivers all year, making the switch to a rival manufacturer's club at a team event a striking one.

Golf Monthly reports that little is known about the specific reasoning behind the change, though the report notes TaylorMade's dominance in fairway woods on the PGA Tour as context. The TaylorMade Qi10 carried a 50% win rate in 2025, with the brand involved in six consecutive men's major victories.

Young arrives at Medinah Country Club in career-best form. He was the joint top scorer for the USA at the 2025 Ryder Cup, and that momentum has carried into 2026, a season in which he has won both The Players Championship and the Cadillac Championship. Those results earned him a place on the American Presidents Cup team.

The equipment tweak has not yet translated into results at Medinah. Young has lost both of his matches so far, leaving him and the USA side needing a response over the weekend.

Paired with Xander Schauffele in Thursday's four-balls, Young went down 3&1 to Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune. A day later, alongside Justin Thomas in the foursomes, he suffered a further 3&2 defeat, this time to Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

The Friday session was a complete whitewash for the International team, who won all five foursomes matches to move to 7-3 ahead of the weekend, according to Golf Monthly's report.

Young's overall form makes him one of the USA's most important players this week, and how he fares with the new fairway wood in the closing sessions could prove significant as the Americans look to close the gap and retain the trophy.