Cameron Young hits out of a bunker on the 16th hole at the Cadillac Championship on Saturday.David J. Phillip/The Associated Press
Cameron Young didn’t have as easy of a time in the third round of the Cadillac Championship as he did while building a big lead Thursday and Friday.
It didn’t seem to matter.
Young is still in full control at Trump National Doral, after his round of 2-under 70 on Saturday got him to 15 under for the week. He carried a six-shot lead over a group that includes top-ranked Scottie Scheffler into a potentially rainy final round Sunday.
“The tournament’s in his hands right now,” said Scheffler, who shot a 3-under 69 to get to 9 under but hasn’t been able to close the gap on Young. “I can go out and have a really good round, and if he has another really good round he’s going to be a tough guy to catch. All I can do is go out and try and have a great round and see where that leaves me.”
Si Woo Kim (69) and Kristoffer Reitan (69) also were 9 under. Canada’s Nick Taylor (72) was 8 under, as were Ben Griffin (68) and Matt McCarty (69).
Catching Young will be tough in any conditions.
And nobody knows what awaits players Sunday at Doral.
A lot of rain is expected on Sunday – more than an inch, according to some forecasts, with heavy downpours predicted for the afternoon. The tournament moved up its schedule for the final round in an effort to beat the worst of the weather.
Players will go off in threesomes, from split tees, with everyone starting between 7:30-9:40 a.m. It’s unknown if President Donald Trump – the course owner – will publicly appear in the final round. He was expected to be at the course Sunday, though that was before the schedule for the final round changed.
Young shared the lead through three rounds at the Masters, ultimately tying for third at Augusta National after Rory McIlroy beat him by two shots.
Scheffler beat Young by five shots in that final round at the Masters. He’ll need to do better than that at Doral if he’s going to win on Sunday.
But the way he finished Saturday might have boosted his comeback chances.
The 18th at Doral basically is two different holes – a brutal par 4 for those who don’t have enough distance for a 300-plus-yard carry over water and into a wider portion of the fairway, and a slightly less brutal par 4 for those who can get it out there. Scheffler is one of those who don’t have problems reaching the better spots of that fairway, and he took full advantage of that on Saturday.
His approach from 172 yards stopped 4 feet from the cup. He made the birdie – just the ninth of the week at the finishing hole.
“Just ended up in a good spot and really nice 9-iron in there to finish off,” Scheffler said. “It’s always nice to have a little tap in at the last.”
Young actually had a closer approach on the 18th, but his shot from about 165 yards was 60 feet below the hole. His birdie putt was about 8 feet short, but he saved the par to preserve the six-shot edge.