You can read Liam Williams’ Power Rankings for the Cadillac Championship at bet365 News.
Course Guide: We should be in for a treat this week as the Blue Monster returns to the PGA Tour after a 10 year hiatus. The last time we saw the Monster was at the WGC Cadillac Championship in 2016 where Adam Scott (in the field this week) was victorious. Since then the LIV Golf League played here in 2024 and 2025, with Dean Burmester (2024) and Marc Leishman (2025) triumphing. Winning scores across those 3 tournaments were -12 (Scott), -11 (Burmester) and -6 (Leishman), with both LIV Events over 54 holes.
What is for sure is that the Blue Monster is no picnic, with any sizeable wind making the course technical in terms of scoring. Keep your eye on the weather forecast for winning score assessment, but this will be no birdie-fest.
Blue Monster Course, Doral, Miami, Florida: Designer: Dick Wilson with Hanse renovation 2014; Course Type: Florida, Mid-Score, Short; Par: 72; Length: 7,739 yards; Holes with Water Hazards In-Play: 11; Number of Sand Bunkers: 99; Fairways: Bermudagrass; Rough: Bermudagrass 3″; Greens: TifEagle Bermudagrass; Tournament Stimp: 11-11.5 ft.
Fairway Widths (yards): Below are the fairway widths for the Blue Monster at Trump Doral and how they compare to recent courses that we’ve seen on Tour:
- Blue Monster, Doral: 25-40 yards.
- Harbour Town: 22-25 yards.
- Augusta National: Average 50 yards.
- Oaks Course: 25-30 yards.
- Memorial Park: 30–40 yards.
- Copperhead: Average 20 yards.
- TPC Sawgrass: Average 28 yards.
- Bay Hill: Average 30 yards.
- PGA National: Average 28 yards.
- Riviera: Average 27 yards.
- Pebble Beach: Average 30-33 yards. Spyglass Hill: 25-30 yards.
- TPC Scottsdale: Average 38 yards.
- Torrey Pines South: Average 24-27 yards. Torrey Pines North: Average 24-27 yards.
- Pete Dye Stadium: Average 33 yards.
Designer Links: For research purposes, other Gil Hanse designs (including re-renovations/restorations) include:
- Aronimink Golf Club – 2019 BMW Championship
- Colonial Country Club – Charles Schwab Challenge – 2024 onwards
- Los Angeles Country Club – 2023 U.S. Open
- Merion – 2013 U.S. Open
- Oakmont – 2016 U.S. Open
- Plainfield CC – The Barclays – 2011 & 2015
- Ridgewood CC – The Barclays / Northern Trust 2010, 2014 & 2018
- Southern Hills CC – 2022 PGA Championship
- The Country Club, Brookline – 2022 U.S. Open
- Trump National Doral – 2014 through 2016 WGC Cadillac Championship
- TPC Boston – Deutsche Bank / Dell Technologies Championship through 2018 plus 2020 Northern Trust
- Winged Foot – 2020 U.S. Open
Course Overview: Prior to Gil Hanse’s changes here in 2014, with the exception of the 18th hole the previous Blue Monster was anything but monstrous and typically rated inside the top 25% of easy courses to play on the PGA Tour. For the most part the 18th was left alone during the renovations, however the remainder of the track was turned upside down by Hanse and Jim Wagner prior to the 2014 WGC event – with more than a little helpful input from Donald Trump himself.
14 of the holes feature water hazards of some description and 150 yards was added to the overall length to push it into the 7,500 yard region from its tips. The objective for the changes was to make the track far more of a challenge for the professionals and that, combined with some generally breezy conditions, saw the course average nearly 2 shots over its par across 2014 to 2016 WGC tournaments played here.
The Blue Monster we will see 10 years later is over 200 yards longer, tipping out at 7,739 yards as a Par 72. That makes it the second-longest course on the PGA Tour this season, behind Torrey Pines’ South Course.
Tournament Stats: We’ve published some key player statistics for this week’s event that are well worth a look. Naturally they’ll help to shape a view on players who could go well this week: Current Form | Course Form | First Round Leader | Combined Stats.
My published predictor is available here. Top 10 of my published predictor are: 1) Scottie Scheffler, 2) Collin Morikawa; 3) Cameron Young; 4) Kurt Kitayama; 5) Pierceson Coody; 6) Justin Rose; 7) Chris Gotterup; 8) J.J. Spaun; 9) Adam Scott; 10) Sam Burns.
Our brand new predictor model is running alongside, where you can build your own rankings in live time, using the variables listed on the left hand side.
Weather Forecast: The latest weather forecast for Doral, Florida is here.
Hot and humid is unsurprisingly where we are at in Miami heading into May. Temperatures of 30-34 degrees Celsius – 86-93 Fahrenheit are the hottest of the year so far on the PGA Tour, and it’s noticeable that Doral took 68mm of rain across Saturday and Sunday, with rain potentially falling on tournament Monday. I could see cut in the fairways on Thursday and potentially soft greens.
Wind-wise – the most serious defence of the Blue Monster – the forecast looks calm enough through the first 54 holes with calm mornings and south to easterly breezes up to 15 mph. Sunday looks tougher with 20-25 mph south westerly wind – the course will undoubtedly show its teeth.
Strokes Gained Rankings: These top 25 in the field rankings are based on an 8-tournament window that stretches back to the Arnold Palmer / Joburg Open which includes both PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, where recorded. Player rankings are based on performance relative to the rest of the field:
- Top 25 SG Off The Tee: 1) Cameron Young; 3) Gary Woodland; 3) Si Woo Kim; 4) Jordan Smith; 5) Scottie Scheffler; 6) Patrick Cantlay; 7) Min Woo Lee; 8) Keith Mitchell; 9) Tommy Fleetwood / Chris Gotterup / Austin Smotherman; 12) Jacob Bridgeman / Ryo Hisatsune / Collin Morikawa / Aldrich Potgieter / Sam Stevens; 17) Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 18) Taylor Pendrith; 19) Russell Henley; 20) Sam Burns / Ryan Fox; 22) Viktor Hovland / Maverick McNealy; 24) Nicolai Hojgaard; 25) Hideki Matsuyama.
- Top 25 SG Approach: 1) Collin Morikawa; 2) Adam Scott; 3) J.J. Spaun / Cameron Young; 5) Justin Rose; 6) Akshay Bhatia; 7) Corey Conners; 8) Jordan Spieth; 9) Daniel Berger / Kurt Kitayama / Hideki Matsuyama; 12) Scottie Scheffler; 13) Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 14) Alex Smalley; 15) Sam Stevens / Gary Woodland; 17) Tommy Fleetwood / Sepp Straka / Nick Taylor; 20) Chris Gotterup / Ryo Hisatsune / Nicolai Hojgaard / Jordan Smith / Matt Wallace; 24) Joel Dahmen / Brian Harman.
- Top 25 SG Around The Green: 1) Scottie Scheffler; 2) Russell Henley; 3) Collin Morikawa; 4) Jason Day; 5) Nick Taylor; 6) Patrick Cantlay / Brian Harman / Maverick McNealy; 9) Justin Rose; 10) Andrew Putnam; 11) Ben Griffin; 12) Sungjae Im; 13) Cameron Young; 14) Bud Cauley; 15) David Lipsky / Matt Wallace; 17) Justin Thomas; 18) Alex Noren; 19) Sahith Theegala; 20) Tommy Fleetwood; 21) Viktor Hovland; 22) Chris Gotterup / Si Woo Kim; 24) Min Woo Lee / Jordan Spieth.
- Top 25 SG Tee to Green: 1) Cameron Young; 2) Collin Morikawa; 3) Scottie Scheffler; 4) Patrick Cantlay; 5) Adam Scott; 6) Ryo Hisatsune / Matt Wallace; 8) Russell Henley; 9) Justin Rose / Jordan Spieth / Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 12) Gary Woodland; 13) Viktor Hovland / Si Woo Kim / Hideki Matsuyama / J.J. Spaun; 17) Corey Conners / Chris Gotterup / Min Woo Lee; 20) Tommy Fleetwood; 21) Keith Mitchell; 22) Alex Smalley; 23) Bud Cauley; 24) Brian Harman / Kurt Kitayama / Jordan Smith / Sahith Theegala.
- Top 25 SG Putting: 1) Harris English; 2) Akshay Bhatia / Maverick McNealy; 4) Sam Burns; 5) Jacob Bridgeman; 6) Collin Morikawa; 7) Jake Knapp / Scottie Scheffler / Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 10) Cameron Young; 11) Alex Noren / Sepp Straka; 13) Keegan Bradley; 14) Jason Day / Harry Hall; 16) Russell Henley; 17) Chris Gotterup / Si Woo Kim / Hideki Matsuyama; 20) Michael Kim; 21) Andrew Putnam; 22) Justin Rose / Gary Woodland; 24) Ryan Gerard; 25) Ben Griffin / Nicolai Hojgaard.
- Top 25 SG Total: 1) Collin Morikawa; 2) Cameron Young; 3) Scottie Scheffler; 4) Maverick McNealy; 5) Russell Henley; 6) Jacob Bridgeman; 7) Sam Burns / Patrick Cantlay / Sudarshan Yellamaraju; 10) Si Woo Kim / Hideki Matsuyama; 12) Chris Gotterup / Alex Smalley; 14) Justin Rose / Gary Woodland; 16) Akshay Bhatia / Adam Scott; 18) Ryo Hisatsune; 19) Tommy Fleetwood; 20) Andrew Putnam / Jordan Spieth; 22) Corey Conners / Viktor Hovland; 24) Jason Day / Harris English / Brian Harman.
Let’s take a view from players as to how the Blue Monster at Trump Doral sets up and what skill sets the course favours:
Bubba Watson: ” You know, the golf course, it’s the best shape I’ve ever seen it. The greens are perfect. The fairways are unbelievable. The rough is still rough – everybody hates rough, but it’s the best I’ve ever seen this golf course. It’s a beautiful place. The challenge around here is trying to hit your drive halfway decent; miss the water, miss the bunkers and make putts. When you come here, the challenge of the wind, the challenge of the golf course, the speed of the greens are really, really quick right now, and so you get here, you get excited about the challenge. This is why we play the game of golf is to challenge ourselves and try to improve and get better in tough conditions.”
Patrick Reed: “I love it when golf courses are playing hard because I’m a scrambler. And whenever you have to go out and play a golf course where everyone is hitting driver and wedge on every green and making birdies on every hole; to me it’s more fun to play a golf course where you haven’t hit every different shot, having to scramble to make pars, and when you go shoot 2, 3-under par, it’s a good score.”
Brooks Koepka: “It’s hard. You kind of have to go into it with a U.S. Open mentality knowing that guys are going to struggle, you’re going to struggle and you just have to minimize it and try to make bogeys at worst. You don’t want double, takes two holes to get back; where bogey you can recover are the next hole. You just kind of go in with a U.S. Open mentality.”
Henrik Stenson: “It’s definitely going to give you an indication where you’re at with your game, and you’ve got to play well to get a score out there and then mentally to keep your patience and focus and never give up. It’s very tough. It’s borderline stupid‑tough at times, but it is what it is there, and you’ve just got to come out with a good game plan and stick to that one and try and avoid disaster on a few of the holes. It’s more that if you miss in the wrong place, it’s virtually like hitting it out of bounds. You’re reloading off the tee or on 10, for instance, if you miss the tee shot left, you’re hitting it over again. A few others on a short hole like 15, if you stall one into the wind there on a short pin, you’re reloading on the tee. There’s always that danger to take a high number if you miss it on the wrong holes with the wrong shot.”
Ryan Moore: “I mean, 18 is a really tough golf hole. No matter what wind and whatever conditions; if there was no wind, it’s a tough golf hole. I hit a tee shot that was just a couple yards left of perfect, and it started left and goes in the water, and then you’re standing there with a 200‑yard shot straight back into the wind for your third shot over water the whole way with nothing but trouble everywhere. So honestly, it was hard enough that I even considered laying up off the tee there today, and just hitting a 5‑iron or 4‑iron, laying up again, and taking my chance with a wedge. Just because there’s so many bad things that can happen to you if you hit it right, because there’s so many palm trees in there now; you could be stymied and taking a drop in a second over there. But the reality is, there’s still a fairway there, and you can hit it. You’ve just got to stand up and hit a good shot. If you hit it left, it’s going in the water. If you hit it right, you’re in the trees and probably chipping out. So, yeah, it’s just a flat‑out really difficult golf hole.”
Rory McIlroy: “The margins are so small on this golf course, and at times, I felt last year it was a little unfair because of how firm the course was. But this year, it’s a little better. It’s softer and the greens received shots a little bit better. But it is, it’s playing tough. I think it’s a golf course that’s designed for a ten‑mile‑an‑hour wind and usually you get a 20‑mile‑an‑hour wind here. It’s a tough test.”
For the record, here’s the breakdown of Bermudagrass PGA Tour victors in the field since 2008:
- 11 – Scottie Scheffler.
- 7 – Justin Thomas.
- 5 – Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth.
- 4 – Sam Burns, Jason Day, Si Woo Kim.
- 3 – Rickie Fowler, Chris Gotterup, Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Nick Taylor, Gary Woodland.
- 2 – Daniel Berger, Akshay Bhatia, Patrick Cantlay, Corey Conners, Harris English, Lucas Glover, Viktor Hovland, J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Cameron Young.
- 1 – Keegan Bradley, Nico Echavarria, Alex Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox, Ben Griffin, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Sungjae Im, Kurt Kitayama, Min Woo Lee, Shane Lowry, Maverick McNealy, Keith Mitchell, Collin Morikawa, Andrew Novak, J.T. Poston, Jhonattan Vegas.
