Cameron Young Delivers Blistering Start On Green At Cadillac Championship

Cameron Young surged into the early lead at the Cadillac Championship with a bogey-free eight-under-par 64, using a hot putter on the Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral in Miami as the PGA Tour returned to the venue for the first time since 2016.

The recent Players Championship winner holds a one-shot advantage over Jordan Spieth and Alex Smalley after the opening round, while Nick Taylor sits a further stroke behind in fourth place, setting up a tightly packed leaderboard heading into the second day in Florida.

Young’s card featured eight birdies and no dropped shots, and the 97 feet of putts converted ranked as the fifth-highest total of the round, while the overall putting statistics for the day placed Young second, underlining how strongly the 27-year-old handled the demanding Doral greens.

Reflecting on the round, Young described how everything clicked on the putting surfaces. "I feel like I made a billion feet of putts, which I think works in most places," Young said. "It's just one of those days that each mistake I made I was not penalised as much as I could have been. And every time my ball got near the hole it seemed to want to go in today."

Young explained that conditions allowed attacking iron play, as the putting surfaces were receptive rather than fiery. "I think you can be pretty aggressive into a lot of the greens. They're not particularly firm. I feel like the ball's sitting when you need it to. So, it's more just about avoiding some of the big mistakes. There's a couple spots where the rough's a little longer, and obviously, there's tons of water out there."

The top of the board after 18 holes reflects Young’s advantage but also highlights several close pursuers. Spieth and Smalley share second place after matching 65s, with Taylor alone in fourth. Colombia’s Nico Echavarria is fifth on five under, while Andrew Putnam, Brian Harman and Gary Woodland also remain well placed after solid opening efforts.

Spieth matched Young’s fast opening, reaching the turn with three birdies and an eagle on the card, then mixing four more birdies with two bogeys coming home, and the resulting 65 not only put Spieth one behind the lead but also marked the lowest round of Spieth’s season so far.

The three-time major champion is well placed to challenge for a first win since the 2022 RBC Heritage, and the strong front-nine burst highlighted how Spieth’s aggressive style can produce quick moves, especially on a layout with reachable par fives and scoreable par fours.

Smalley joined Spieth at seven under, providing another American threat close to Young. Taylor’s six-under effort kept the Canadian just one stroke further away. Echavarria’s five-under start placed the Colombian alone in fifth, rewarding precise ball striking on a course framed by long rough and water hazards.

Cadillac Championship challenge for Scottie Scheffler after mixed round

World number one Scottie Scheffler finished seven strokes behind Young after a one-under-par 71, a round that began with three birdies in the opening five holes but stalled when back-to-back bogeys arrived on the 10th and 11th, leaving Scheffler unable to generate another birdie over the closing stretch.

A notable moment came at the par-four 14th, where Scheffler sent a drive well right and lost control of the club from the hands, yet still scrambled a par save, underlining how the day contained flashes of resilience alongside a sense of missed scoring chances.

Afterwards, Scheffler acknowledged that the performance did not fully match expectations. "I just wasn't capitalising on a lot of stuff today," Scheffler conceded. "Felt like I could have holed a few more putts. Couple more fairways. Felt like when I got a touch off I wasn't able to get it back and didn't really steal any shots today. I would have liked to have been a little sharper today. Got off to a good start, but I kind of struggled from then on. Just overall, I hope to be a little sharper tomorrow."

The 71 continued a recent pattern for Scheffler, as this marked the sixth time in the last eight starts that Scheffler has not been better than 20th position after the first round, leaving additional work to close the gap on Young and the leading group across the remaining three days.

With Young’s precise putting, Spieth’s resurgence, Smalley and Taylor close behind, and Scheffler attempting to recover from a slow start, the Cadillac Championship heads into the second round with a compact leaderboard and several high-profile names chasing control of the Blue Monster Course.