05/01/26 06:42:00
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05/01 18:40 CDT Young gets to 13 under to take 5-stroke lead into the weekend
at Doral
Young gets to 13 under to take 5-stroke lead into the weekend at Doral
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
DORAL, Fla. (AP) --- Cameron Young finally made his first bogey of the week at
the Cadillac Championship. It barely put a dent into his lead going into the
weekend.
Young shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to get to 13 under and take a five-shot lead
at the midway point of the $20 million signature event at Trump International
Doral.
Young's lone blemish: a bogey at the par-4 14th, where his chip from an awkward
sidehill lie didn't reach the putting surface. Otherwise, he was flawless ---
just as he was Thursday when he had a bogey-free 64 to grab the lead.
He got the stroke he dropped at the 14th back two holes later, when he drove
the green at the par-4 16th and coolly two-putted for his 14th birdie of the
week.
"There's a lot of golf to be played on a difficult golf course," Young said.
"But so far, I've played well."
Young played with Scottie Scheffler; the world's No. 1 player had a bogey-free
67 but ended the day exactly where he started it --- seven shots off the lead.
Nick Taylor (70), Alex Smalley (71) and Jordan Spieth (71) were tied for
second. Gary Woodland (69) was alone in fifth at 7 under and Scheffler was in a
logjam of players --- Alex Fitzpatrick among them --- at 6 under.
"I definitely need to not get further away," Scheffler said. "No, it depends on
how the golf course is playing. All I can do is go out there and be committed
to what I need to do and that's pretty much it."
Young even had mistakes work out for him. He hated the birdie putt he hit on
the par-4 13th, starting to walk toward the hole with the ball about halfway
there.
Some guys do that when they know they've just made a putt.
Young wasn't in that mindset. He gave an almost-apologetic wave when the ball
wound up dropping into the cup.
"I was absolutely disgusted about halfway there," Young said. "I think my read
netted out to be OK, but I just thought it was going to go a little bit left
and then a little bit right and it ended up going six inches left and six
inches right. ... When you're putting well, some of those, they tend to wobble
into the hole and that one did."
Spieth rolled in a birdie at the par-4 18th, an absolute rarity through the
first two rounds at Doral. The 18th on the Blue Monster course is a serious
test, with water lining the left and seriously narrowing the fairway for all
but the biggest hitters.
Spieth's birdie was the sixth on the 18th through the tournament's first two
days.
"It's just a really hard tee shot for most guys," Taylor said.
The 18th even gave Young some trouble. Or tried to, anyway.
Young's second shot at the finishing hole bounced off the base of the
bleachers, coming to rest in the middle of a nest of cables on the ground well
behind the green. He took a drop, didn't get a great lie of out that, and still
chipped to veritable tap-in range to save his par.
"I may have a two- or three- or four-shot lead starting tomorrow, but it just
goes away so fast out here," Young said. "There's no sense really playing like
you have a four-shot lead. You might as well play like you're four back."
He took note of what happened to start the second round, using that as his
proof that the leaderboard might be a whole lot tighter before he tees off in
Round 3 on Saturday afternoon.
Kurt Kitayama and Sudarshan Yellamaraju --- the first group off the tee Friday
morning --- took full advantage of very calm conditions. They both soared up
the leaderboard; Kitayama had the round of the day with an 8-under 64 (which
included a bogey on 18) and Yellamaraju was 9 under for the round through 16
before dropping three shots on his final two holes and finishing with a 66.
They're both at 4 under for the week.
"It definitely helps when you're both playing," Kitayama said. "The rhythm,
being first off, helps. We didn't have to wait for anyone, kind of going at our
own pace, not worrying about being behind or waiting on a group. And so, when
you're both playing well, it's nice to feed off each other's energy."
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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