Out of the Rough: Cadillac Championship (2026)

Cadillac returns as a title sponsor on the PGA Tour for the first time since 2016 playing of the WGC-Cadillac Championship for this week’s Cadillac Championship.

The Cadillac Championship, also known as the Miami Championship, will be held at the Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral. This is the same course that hosted the WGC-Cadillac Championship between 2011 and 2016.

This event will play as a Signature Event, filling the void left behind from the Sentry Tournament of Champions that was canceled to kick-off the season in January.

The Cadillac Championship takes over for the VidantaWorld Mexico Open on the PGA Tour’s schedule. The VidantaWorld Mexico Open will move to the fall to be part of the FedEx Cup Fall series.

It will also cause the CJ Cup Byron Nelson to move to late May in the schedule, following the PGA Championship.

This event will also serve as the first of back-to-back Signature Events with the Truist Championship next week. The PGA Championship will follow the Truist Championship.

The Field

Although a Signature Event, due to its placement in the schedule, a few of the Tour’s best will be opting out of this week’s Cadillac Championship.

Most notably, World No. 2 and back-to-back Masters Champion Rory McIlroy will remain idle, missing his second Signature Event of the season (also missed the RBC Heritage.)

Additionally, recent RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic winner Matt Fitzpatrick will opt out of this week’s event as well as Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele and Robert MacIntyre.

Beyond that, the field remains the same from Signature Event to Signature Event. 

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler returns to action since his lost play-off to Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage.

Although in 2016, Adam Scott won the PGA Tour’s latest stop at the Blue Monster Course and will be teeing it up this week as well. 

The Course

The Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral is one of the most iconic golf courses in all of the United States. It is the linchpin of the famous four-course complex at Trump National Doral.

It hosted a PGA Tour event between 1962 and 2016 and has seen legends such as Tiger Woods, Jack Ncklaus and Greg Norman claim victory on its grounds.

It plays as a par-72 at 7,590 yards.

It was opened in 1962, designed by Dick Wilson and became the template for the modern south Florida golf courses.

The Blue Monster Course features lakes, deep bunkers and greens elevated above the fairway.

Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner led a renovation in 2013 that saw the course return to its original design while being modernized. Additionally, the duo added new slopes and ridges on several holes. They also excavated new lakes on the par-three 15th and par-four 16th.

As the name of the course suggested, this is a long course, so those with length off-the-tee will see an advantage. However, the deep bunkers, plethora of lakes as well as native trees and vegetation will require a bit of accuracy to avoid.

Additionally, the thick Bermuda rough adds another factor to avoid off-the-tee as holding the elevated greens out of the rough will be a challenge in itself.

From there, golfers will attack the elevated and cunningly contoured Bermuda greens, playing above the fairways.

In the end golfers will take on the famous 473-yard par-four 18th, recognized as one of the best finishing holes in the world of golf. It is included in GOLF Magazine as one of the Top 100 Holes in the World.

Through the various renovations that this course has seen, the 18th hole has been left untouched.

It features a long, narrow green that is protected by water on the left.

In all, this is a long, challenging golf course with hazards to avoid on every shot. This is one of those courses that’s closer to a major layout than not.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is just a five-percent chance of precipitation across Thursday through Saturday. Sunday is calling for a 35-percent of isolated thunderstorms during the afternoon. Temperatures will begin the week at 90-degrees and remain there through Friday. From there, the temperatures will peak at 92-degrees on Saturday and will finish the week at 89-degrees on Sunday. Winds are set at 11 miles-per-hour for Thursday before reaching 12 miles-per-hour on Friday and Saturday. Winds will be the highest on Sunday at 13 miles-per-hour.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Total Driving (75-percent Driving Distance / 25-percent Driving Accuracy)

• Proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards

• Bogey Avoidance

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda (SG: PUTT Bermuda)

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Bounce Back

• Scrambling

• Par 5 Scoring Average

Betting Card

Collin Morikawa (+2200)

Morikawa is always a go to when it comes to these challenging golf courses as we can’t trust the putter to compete in a birdiefest. He is currently first on Tour in both SG: APP and bounce back, second in SG: TTG, fourth in par-five average scoring, 16th in bogey avoidance, 17th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 21st in sand saves percentage, 58th in total driving, 79th in scrambling and 139th in SG: PUTT Bermuda. He most recently placed fourth in his latest outing at the RBC Heritage. Prior to that he placed seventh at the Masters Tournament, fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, seventh at The Genesis Championship and won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Chris Gotterup (+3000)

This is a course that screams Gotterup to me. A guy who can mash the ball off-the-tee, has above average irons and is a rather good putter. He is currently eighth on Tour in par-five average scoring, ninth in SG: TTG, 17th in both total driving and bounce back, 31st in SG: APP, 34th in SG: PUTT Bermuda, 43rd in bogey avoidance, 50th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 59th in sand saves percentage and 74th in scrambling. He placed 25th in his latest outing at the RBC Heritage and prior to that, placed 24th at the Masters Tournament. He also placed sixth at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Gotterup is also a two-time winner on the season already, winning both the WM Phoenix Open and Sony Open in Hawaii.

Sam Burns (+3000)

I kept finding myself going back to Burns while preparing for this week. I keep thinking back to his ability to perform at tough golf courses, most notably at Oakmont a season ago at the U.S. Open. He’s also in great form. He placed 16th in his latest outing at the RBC Heritage, seventh at the Masters Tournament, 21st at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and 13th at THE PLAYERS Championship. Burns is currently third on Tour in SG: PUTT Bermuda, 24th in bounce back, 32nd in total driving, 36th in bogey avoidance, 43rd in par-five average scoring, 67th in scrambling, 73rd in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 79th in sand saves percentage, 80th in SG: APP and 98th in SG: TTG. He is above-average or darn near average in each of the ten statistical categories I took into consideration this week. 

Pierceson Coody (+9000)

As I went front heavy with the start of my betting card, I have no room for the middle of the odds board and quite frankly, I'm fine with that. Instead, I’ll move onto two long shots, the first being Coody who has quickly become one of my favorite golfers to watch. He’s another guy who can mash the ball off-the-tee with well above-average irons and an okay putter. He is currently 24th on Tour in total driving, 25th in SG: APP, 28th in sand saves percentage, 43rd in par-five average scoring, 47th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 50th in SG: TTG, 86th in bogey avoidance, 100th in bounce back, 104th in scrambling and 112th in SG: PUTT Bermuda. He did gain with the putter at the RBC Heritage in his latest outing. He placed 16th at the RBC Heritage.

Ryan Fox (+13000)

This was my first click this week. A huge number for a guy who should match up well with this golf course. He is currently 16th on Tour in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 24th in scrambling, 29th in SG: PUTT Bermuda, 38th in total driving, 45th in SG: TTG, 57th in bounce back, 58th in bogey avoidance, 81st in sand saves percentage, 87th in SG: APP and 134th in par-five average scoring. He placed 16th in his latest outing at the RBC Heritage.