Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster course hosted its first PGA Tour round in 10 years Thursday at the 2026 Cadillac Championship. While the course often presents a tough challenge to the world’s best golfers, that was not the case in Round 1.
That was evidenced by the low scores that filled the leaderboard, but also comments from some of the Tour’s biggest characters in the field, including Cameron Young, Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler.
Those stars called it “straightforward,” and described it as “right in front of you” and “not too tricky,” all of which indicate that some of the “Monster” was removed from the Blue Monster course.
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While many players went down in the opening round of the Cadillac Championship, none went down more than Young. The 2026 Players Champion shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to take an early lead.
Despite the windy conditions, Young’s round featured eight birdies and, notably, zero bogeys.
While Young called the Blue Monster a “very tough golf course” after his round, he also described the challenge it presents as “so much in front of you,” that it “doesn’t hide anything,” that “learning the course wasn’t a big deal” and that the greens “aren’t particularly tough.”
“Yeah I think it’s pretty good in front of you for the most part. I think most of the shots look good, which is a good lesson for you,” Young said of Trump Doral’s Blue Monster. “I think it’s not trying to hide anything. So learning this course wasn’t a big deal… I think you can be a little too aggressive in the green areas. They’re very tough.”
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He continued: “I think a solid golf course, in front of you, doesn’t hide anything. That’s what you want.”
Scheffler did not go well as a junior on Thursday. Amazingly, Scheffler managed to get under par in his first 18 holes, though that’s the first round he’s had this season.
Despite not having the best day, Scheffler didn’t suggest the course was any harder than Young had.
Scheffler called it “straightforward” and said the course doesn’t require “a ton of technique” or “a ton of decisions off the tee.”
“I think there’s a golf course like this, this golf course I don’t want to say exactly, but most of them are right in front of you. You can see what you have to do and there’s no strategy like that, I don’t know if that’s the right word,” Scheffler said Thursday. “There aren’t too many decisions. There are lines and stuff and maybe places to play if you’re not playing too well, but other than that it’s like you can learn enough in a few days.”
Spieth admitted he played just one 9-hole practice round at the Blue Monster to prepare himself this week, not counting Wednesday’s pro-am. Otherwise, Spieth shot a seven-under 65 on Thursday to get within one shot of Young.
When asked to explain why he was able to do so well on a course he hadn’t seen before, Spieth said “it’s not a big trick,” then elaborated on his theory.
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“It’s not too tricky. During the pro-am you’re looking, okay, here’s this corner. Michael says, Hey, check this is over. This pin is going to be in the middle of the green in the pro-am, and he’s like something I wanted to see and write grain changes, when you hit the wedge on this one, you know a few things that helped.”
He continued: “It’s not a trick, so it was just going out and seeing what I should prioritize, what shots I’m going to have all week compared to others. And he’s got a few long irons, a lot longer irons than I think he has in a lot of other places so I was trying to prioritize kind of handling those clubs and handling those clubs well today.”
Brian Harman, the 2023 Open champion, shared a different opinion, calling the Blue Monster course “very difficult.”
“I’ve never played here. So I’m starting to look at it. It’s very difficult especially going in, 17, 18 with the wind blowing a little bit now. There is, 18 is the hardest finishing hole as I can imagine,” said Harman. “It’s very difficult because when you’re out of position there aren’t many spots that are easy to get off the ground. So it’s like you need to drive it well and you need to iron it well and make putts. So if you’re not in shape it’s difficult. But I was lucky.”
But despite his perception of the course’s difficulty, Harman carded a four-under 68 on Day 1. His round was also unspectacular.
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