GOLF: Cameron Young leads Cadillac with Jordan Spieth right behind

Cameron Young opened the Cadillac Championship in dominant fashion, firing a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 to grab a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth and Alex Smalley on Thursday outside Miami.

The PGA Tour returned to the famed “Blue Monster” at Trump National Doral for the first time since 2016. The $20 million signature event features no 36-hole cut, bringing a high-stakes format to one of the tour’s most demanding venues.

Young, who claimed the biggest win of his career at The Players Championship just six weeks ago in Florida, carried that momentum into another strong performance. Now ranked No. 4 in the world, he overcame just 50% driving accuracy by ranking third in the field in strokes gained around the green and strokes gained putting.

He posted four birdies on each nine, highlighted by a 41½-foot putt at the par-3 fourth and a 25-footer at the par-3 15th.

“I feel like I made a billion feet of putts, which I think works most places,” Young said. “It's just one of those days that each mistake I made I was not penalized as much as I could have been. And every time my ball got near the hole it seemed to want to go in today.”

Jordan Spieth, one of the few players in the field with prior PGA Tour experience at Doral, also got off to a fast start. He recorded three birdies and an eagle on the front nine before adding four more birdies against two bogeys on the back nine.

“I remember I went to (caddie Michael Greller) during the day today and just said, ‘Let's set a new goal, let's pretend we're starting over just to stay aggressive,’” Spieth said. “So it was a good strategy.”

His 65 marked his lowest round of the year, putting him in position to contend for his first victory since the 2022 RBC Heritage.

“I don't foresee 7-unders every day, but when the wind was down to start, it was a good time to try to take advantage,” Spieth said. “And the greens were soft enough and not quite fast enough to where if you were controlling the ball off the tee you were going to get some looks.”

Alex Smalley, who earned his spot in the field through the Aon Swing 5 standings and recently finished runner-up at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Hayden Springer, continued his strong form. He ranked second in strokes gained approaching the green while carding eight birdies against a single bogey.

“Having a chance at the win last week was kind of a cool place to be,” Smalley said. “If you continue to put yourself there more and more often, you just start to be a little more comfortable each time.”

Canada’s Nick Taylor sits alone in fourth after a bogey-free 6-under 66, while Colombia’s Nico Echavarria is fifth at 5-under 67.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, making his debut at Doral, opened with a promising start—birdying three of his first five holes—but faded late with bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 to finish at 1-under 71.

“I just wasn't capitalizing on a lot of stuff,” Scheffler said. “Felt like I could have holed a few more putts. Couple more fairways. When I got a touch off, I wasn't able to get it back.”

— Field Level Media / Reuters