Cameron Young produced a superb opening round to take a one-shot lead at the Cadillac Championship as the stars of the PGA Tour had their say on news of rival tour LIV Golf losing its Saudi Arabian funding.
Young shot an eight-under-par 64 as the PGA Tour returned to the Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral in Miami for the first time since 2016.
The Players Championship winner is a shot clear of fellow Americans Jordan Spieth and Alex Smalley, with Canadian Nick Taylor a further stroke back in fourth.
Colombia’s Nico Echavarria is alone in fifth on five under, with American trio Andrew Putnam, Brian Harman and Gary Woodland a shot further back.
Young’s 97 feet of putts made was the fifth highest total of the round, while he ranked second for the day in overall putting stats as he made eight birdies without dropping a shot.
Jordan Spieth is one shot off the lead in Florida
“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 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.”
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler is seven shots off the lead after he dropped two strokes on the back nine to shoot a 71.
“I would have liked to have been a little sharper today,” Scheffler said. “Got off to a good start, but I kind of struggled from then on. Just overall hope to be a little sharper tomorrow.”
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Justin Rose had a moment to forget at the first hole of the Cadillac Championship, as the Englishman shanked a bunker shot into the water!
Tommy Fleetwood finished two under, while fellow Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick is level par after earning PGA Tour membership by winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his brother Matt last week.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry is also at level par, while his Ryder Cup Justin Rose carded a two-over 74 as he debuted his new irons, manufactured by McLaren.
Spieth not sure return pathway ‘should be the same’ for all LIV players
Play began in Florida around the same time that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it will end its funding for LIV Golf at the end of the 2026 season.
The PIF said that the “substantial investment required is no longer consistent” with the fund’s investment strategy moving forward, leaving LIV seeking new “long-term financial partners” to salvage the future of the organisation.
With LIV’s future in doubt, attention has quickly turned to whether its star players, including major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, will be able to return to playing on the PGA Tour.
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Kaveh Solhekol explains why Saudi Arabian funding will be cut from LIV Golf and where this leaves the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm
Another major winner who had previously defected to LIV, Brooks Koepka, opted into the Returning Members Programme offered up by the PGA Tour at the start of 2026, which provided a special opportunity for some of the game’s most successful players.
Former Masters champion Patrick Reed, who did not qualify for the programme, is in the process of seeing out a full year after his final LIV appearance before he can return to PGA Tour action.
Former World No 1 Spieth was asked after his opening round about the potential process that could take place should more LIV players want to return to the PGA Tour.
Spieth said: “I’m not sure if it should be the same for everyone. I know olive branches were given out a couple of months ago. Brooks took them up on it. So, I’m not sure what would now change.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean that LIV’s not going to still move on, too. I think there’s just too many unknowns for me to have a good gauge on what would happen there.
“But I think, if there’s a system for Brooks and a system for Patrick Reed, does that stay the same for guys in the same category as those two coming back or does it change now? Does it change for guys who sued and dropped their membership?
“There’s just a lot of different things that happened over the last four years for that. I’m kind of glad I’m not in that room, and I trust the guys that are in that room to make the right decision.”
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Eamon Lynch tells Golf Today on the Golf Channel that a return to the PGA Tour or DP World Tour for Rahm or DeChambeau will prove to be very difficult for the pair and that LIV Golf will struggle to continue without investment
Harman, the 2023 Open champion, thinks there should be a way back to the PGA Tour for LIV players but said “there has to be something” done to smooth the path.
“I would think that the fans want everyone to be playing together and time heals all wounds,” Harman said. “There’s still some sentiment out here, especially with all the lawsuit stuff, that stuff’s going to be tough to get past. We play with all those guys in the majors, so, yeah, I think there should be a path back.
“I think there should be something. I’m not smart enough to be able to tell you what that is. That’s other people’s jobs.
“I think that would help when I spoke to some of the bad blood and some of the resentment, although I haven’t heard near as much of it in the last couple years as we did to start with the lawsuit. I think something to ease a little bit of that is probably necessary.”
Watch all four rounds of the PGA Tour Signature Event live on Sky Sports. Coverage of the second round begins at 4pm on Friday on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.
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