The PGA Tour is back in Miami for the first time in a while with the Cadillac Championship, a new Signature Event being held at Trump National Doral.
Doral used to host the old Doral Open and then the WGC-Cadillac Championship, but it hasn't been a Tour host site in a decade, so it's good to see an old championship course work its way back into the rotation. This is one of the few PGA Tour host courses I've played in the past, and it truly lives up to the Blue Monster name, even if the decor was a bit tacky.
Anyway, we've got a lot of big names in the field this week, including Scottie Scheffler, who's looking to finally break through for his second win this year. We last saw Doral play in a professional setting when it hosted LIV Miami, but honestly, I don't see a ton from that failed golf tour to glean on for these rankings' purposes.
We're red-hot around here, with the brothers Fitzpatrick running the winning streak to three last week. Let's see if we can round out a foursome.
Honorable Mentions: Russell Henley, Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Aldrich Potgieter, Adam Scott
9. Tommy Fleetwood
This pick is really just based on him being one of the few guys in the field that has played Doral at tournament speeds. Tommy Fleetwood has to be disappointed in his play throughout 2026 so far, but one of the few places he did contend this year was at a pretty crispy TPC Sawgrass, much like how Doral should be playing this week. Maybe he can find some consistent strong play this week, and find win number two.
8. Viktor Hovland
I talked about Viktor Hovland a bit for the Valspar earlier this year, but that ended up being his only missed cut of the season so far, so maybe I jinxed him. Look, no one knows what to expect from Hovland anymore (remember when he won the FedEx Cup?), so honestly, we're just throwing a coin in the wishing well at this point. But you know what, when Viktor gets clicking, he can play as well as anyone, so maybe we catch some heat from the Norwegian.
7. Jake Knapp
Alright, the Knapp pick at the Heritage a couple of weeks ago did not work out in our favor. However, I think that was a simple miss on my part with Jake Knapp stepping up to a course that his game profile didn't fit super well, so an easy readjustment of the process. This week, stepping up to a behemoth of a course in Doral will let Knapp's driving prowess lead him right up the leaderboard once again.
6. Jacob Bridgeman
Jacob Bridgeman's last couple of starts at The Masters and the RBC Heritage have certainly been a step back from his hot form going into Augusta, but I don't think we have anything to worry about on that front. My reason for going with Bridgeman this week is pretty similar to my Fleetwood reasoning re: strong play at The Players, but the main thing is that Bridgeman's putting will need to stay hot.
That's what has carried him this season, and we've seen hot stretches carry guys to consistent high finishes for months or even seasons at a time, and we might be in the midst of one of those stretches right now.
5. Chris Gotterup
Chris Gotterup is going to be able to let loose and crush the golf ball all over Doral this week. On top of that, we've seen him rein in his accuracy issues off the tee a little bit, a skill that helped lead to his two wins to start the year in Hawaii and Phoenix. If he finds the short grass off the tee, then Gotterup's wedges will lead him to a Sunday afternoon tee time.
4. Patrick Cantlay
After a pretty abysmal start by his standards to the 2026 campaign, Patrick Cantlay has rattled off three straight top-12 finishes, at a variety of venue types as well. Impressively enough, Cantlay has carded those finishes with some pretty poor putting, an issue that has plagued him throughout the season. However, he is able to find those peak weeks at times, so perhaps getting onto Doral's greens will help him feel more comfortable and help his scores a bit this week.
3. Collin Morikawa
Maybe Collin Morikawa should play on a bad back all of the time. His T4 at the RBC Heritage makes it five straight top-seven finishes, stretching back to his win at Pebble earlier this year. There is a serious distance concern, with Morikawa not being a super long hitter when he's 100%, let alone when he's ailing.
But, if the course is playing firm and he can get plenty of roll off the tee, then he should be able to let his irons take him to the top of the leaderboard. Take him with a grain of salt this week, but still ride with him.
2. Cameron Young
Cameron Young just feels built in a lab for Doral. He launches the ball off the tee, hits his irons super well, and has been rolling the rock on the greens at a level we've never seen in his career. Sure, he only managed a T25 at Harbour Town, but he was coming off a T3 at The Masters, where he really could have won. After a week off, maybe we've got the right amount of time to let Young's mental game reset and come back this week strong.
1. Scottie Scheffler
Yeah, who else was going to be number one? He just does everything well, and he's coming off of a couple weeks where he's lost by one shot to Rory at The Masters, and lost in a playoff to the current hottest player in the world in Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage. I know he's basically just a default pick at this point, but there's nothing I can do about it.
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