Cameron Young surges into commanding five-stroke lead at PGA Cadillac Championship

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/young-cameron/WAjf7EFq/"]Young[/a] birdied four of the first seven holes on his way to firing a five-under par 67 and stand on 13-under 131 after 36 holes at Trump National Doral in Florida.[/p][p][b]"I've just putted really well,"[/b] Young said. "[b]I've left myself in mostly doable spots when I've missed greens.[/b][/p][p]"But I haven't driven it great and that's something I hopefully look to return to normal over the next couple days."[/p][p]Three-time major winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spieth-jordan/p0739Ny4/"]Jordan Spieth[/a], fellow American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smalley-alex/z1h2TxzH/"]Alex Smalley[/a] and Canada's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/taylor-nick/bRN84Bas/"]Nick Taylor[/a] shared second on 136 with American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woodland-gary/lQRqur2j/"]Gary Woodland[/a] on 137.[/p][p]Young, who won the Players Championship in March and captured his first PGA title last August at Greensboro, said he feels comfortable with a big lead, well aware it could vanish quickly on the weekend.[/p][p][b]"I've been around the lead quite a bit and I'm not particularly uncomfortable. I've liked this golf course thus far,"[/b] Young said.[/p][p]"There's a lot of guys four or five back. I'm sure somebody will be four- or five-under tomorrow so you have to prepare for that."[/p][embed guid="39112bcd-37a1-4e4e-99ce-6c2bc101b3dc" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2050325937623838886" social-type="twitter" /][p]Young topped putting and scrambling statistics.[/p][p][b]"I avoided the bad misses for the most part. It's not like I drove it awful but I would love to play from the fairway a couple more times the next couple days,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"There's a lot of golf to be played on a difficult golf course but so far I've played well. If I can drive it a little bit better, I feel like I can keep cruising and see what happens."[/p][p]Young reached the green in two and birdied the par-five first hole to grab the solo lead then stretched the margin with a 17-foot birdie putt at the third and a 27-foot birdie putt at the fifth.[/p][p]The lead reached four strokes when Young sank a seven-foot birdie putt at the seventh.[/p][p]Young's approach at the par-five eighth was plugged in a bunker. He punched out into an adjacent bunker then blasted to five feet and rescued par.[/p][p]At the par-three ninth, Young missed the green but rolled the ball just outside six feet and saved par again.[/p][p]Young sank a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-three 13th, boosting his advantage to five, but then needed two shots to escape greenside rough at 14 and made his first bogey of the tournament.[/p][p]Young drove the green at the par-four 16th and two-putted for birdie from 26 feet to restore his five-stroke margin.[/p][h2]'Pick your spots'[/h2][p]World number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a], a four-time major winner, fired a 67 to join a pack in sixth on 138.[/p][p][b]"It's a golf course where there's some trouble - there's a fair amount of water but the greens are fairly big. Fairways aren't too narrow but they are hard to hit just based on how firm the golf course is," [/b]Scheffler said.[/p][p]"There's definitely some challenge out there. You have to pick your spots. I did a good job of giving myself some looks today. Wish I had holed a few more but overall if I do that over the course of the next couple days I'll be in a good spot."[/p][p]The $20 million signature event marks the PGA Tour's return to the Blue Monster course for the first time since 2016. Doral had hosted a LIV Golf event in recent years.[/p]