Young gets to 13 under to take
5-stroke lead into the weekend at Doral
[May 02, 2026]
By TIM REYNOLD
DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Cameron Young finally made his first bogey of the
week at the Cadillac Championship. It barely put a dent into his
lead going into the weekend.
Young shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to get to 13 under and take a
five-shot lead at the midway point of the $20 million signature
event at Trump International Doral.
Young's lone blemish: a bogey at the par-4 14th, where his chip from
an awkward sidehill lie didn't reach the putting surface. Otherwise,
he was flawless — just as he was Thursday when he had a bogey-free
64 to grab the lead.
He got the stroke he dropped at the 14th back two holes later, when
he drove the green at the par-4 16th and coolly two-putted for his
14th birdie of the week.
“There's a lot of golf to be played on a difficult golf course,"
Young said. “But so far, I've played well.”
Young played with Scottie Scheffler; the world's No. 1 player had a
bogey-free 67 but ended the day exactly where he started it — seven
shots off the lead.
Nick Taylor (70), Alex Smalley (71) and Jordan Spieth (71) were tied
for second. Gary Woodland (69) was alone in fifth at 7 under and
Scheffler was in a logjam of players — Alex Fitzpatrick among them —
at 6 under.
“I definitely need to not get further away,” Scheffler said. “No, it
depends on how the golf course is playing. All I can do is go out
there and be committed to what I need to do and that’s pretty much
it.”
Young even had mistakes work out for him. He hated the birdie putt
he hit on the par-4 13th, starting to walk toward the hole with the
ball about halfway there.
Some guys do that when they know they've just made a putt.
Young wasn't in that mindset. He gave an almost-apologetic wave when
the ball wound up dropping into the cup.
“I was absolutely disgusted about halfway there,” Young said. “I
think my read netted out to be OK, but I just thought it was going
to go a little bit left and then a little bit right and it ended up
going six inches left and six inches right. ... When you’re putting
well, some of those, they tend to wobble into the hole and that one
did.”
Spieth rolled in a birdie at the par-4 18th, an absolute rarity
through the first two rounds at Doral. The 18th on the Blue Monster
course is a serious test, with water lining the left and seriously
narrowing the fairway for all but the biggest hitters.
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Cameron Young hits from the 12th tee during the second round of the
Cadillac Championship PGA golf tournament Friday, May 1, 2026, in
Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Spieth's birdie was the sixth on the 18th through
the tournament's first two days.
“It’s just a really hard tee shot for most guys,” Taylor said.
The 18th even gave Young some trouble. Or tried to,
anyway.
Young’s second shot at the finishing hole bounced off the base of
the bleachers, coming to rest in the middle of a nest of cables on
the ground well behind the green. He took a drop, didn’t get a great
lie of out that, and still chipped to veritable tap-in range to save
his par.
“I may have a two- or three- or four-shot lead starting tomorrow,
but it just goes away so fast out here,” Young said. “There's no
sense really playing like you have a four-shot lead. You might as
well play like you’re four back.”
He took note of what happened to start the second round, using that
as his proof that the leaderboard might be a whole lot tighter
before he tees off in Round 3 on Saturday afternoon.
Kurt Kitayama and Sudarshan Yellamaraju — the first group off the
tee Friday morning — took full advantage of very calm conditions.
They both soared up the leaderboard; Kitayama had the round of the
day with an 8-under 64 (which included a bogey on 18) and
Yellamaraju was 9 under for the round through 16 before dropping
three shots on his final two holes and finishing with a 66.
They're both at 4 under for the week.
“It definitely helps when you’re both playing,” Kitayama said. “The
rhythm, being first off, helps. We didn’t have to wait for anyone,
kind of going at our own pace, not worrying about being behind or
waiting on a group. And so, when you’re both playing well, it’s nice
to feed off each other’s energy.”
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