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It’s a familiar name atop the leaderboard in Miami ...

Cameron Young 2.0

How much do you remember about the 2022 PGA Championship?

Yes, it was the site of a memorable playoff between Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris, facilitated in large part by a 72nd-hole meltdown. But among the combatants was Cameron Young, a relative unknown in the midst of his rookie season on the PGA TOUR.

It was the first of what quickly became a trend of Young planting his flag on the leaderboards at golf’s biggest events. But it also facilitated the storyline of close but not quite for Young, who had just turned 25 years old. Had he played his final three holes in even par, he would have joined Thomas and Zalatoris in that playoff at Southern Hills. Instead, a double bogey on the 16th hole ended his title hopes.

A run at The Open at St. Andrews two months later solidified both narratives. So did four more top 10s in his next 11 starts in the majors. Young had all the shots, and he had the length to take on the brawniest venues, but he couldn’t close things out on TOUR, let alone on the biggest stages.

My, how times are changing.

Young broke the drought last year at the Wyndham Championship, his first win on TOUR, and he leveled up with his win at THE PLAYERS Championship in March. That win at TPC Sawgrass, complete with his birdie on the treacherous par-3 17th and head-turning drive on the home hole, established that he had what it took to get the job done.

He went toe-to-toe with Matt Fitzpatrick on the Stadium Course and came out ahead. A month later, he went toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy at the Masters and came up short as his putter balked at just the wrong time. An opportunity lost, but another where he was firmly in the mix.

This week at the Cadillac Championship, Young was grouped with Scottie Scheffler in the marquee pairing and emerged as clearly the better player through 36 holes (but more on that below). Playing 31 holes on a 7,700-yard layout before making a single bogey, he now heads into the weekend five shots clear of an elite field. With Formula 1 setting up shop across town, Young now has the inside track to his second win of the year, his third in the last nine months, and a clear lane in the Player of the Year race – all before hitting the summer stretch of long and difficult venues that should play right into his hands.

Playing through

• 🏆 Masters champ Rory McIlroy is set to return to competition at next week’s Truist Championship. See who will join him in the field at Quail Hollow …
• 🎥 See what you might have missed at Doral with the Round 2 highlights …
• 📺 Here’s how to watch the weekend action from Miami …

Taking dead aim

It was a bad day to be a flagstick and find yourself in the crosshairs of Scottie Scheffler at Trump National Doral.

As mentioned above, the world No. 1 has had a front-row seat to Young’s leading performance through 36 holes. But he had a few highlights of his own as he sought to fight back into contention, including a flurry of approaches that barely left the target.

Scheffler rattled the flagstick with his approach to the par-4 fifth hole – an unlucky break, as it turned out, since the ball caromed some 18 feet away. A couple of hours later, his tee shot on the par-3 13th grazed the hole on its way past, and he nearly holed his approach from the rough on No. 14.

“I felt like I gave myself more looks today than I had yesterday, especially on the back nine,” Scheffler said. “Keep doing that over the course of the next couple days, I think I’ll be in a decent spot.”

Scheffler was unable to convert those last two into birdies, nor an 18-footer on the last green that also missed the mark. So the second round became a bit of a mixed bag: strides made with a bogey-free 67, but still plenty of work ahead of him in order to catch up with Young. At 6 under, he’s seven shots back – right where he started the day – and in a tie for sixth.

The Strokes Gained figures bear out the shift in Scheffler’s approach play: After ranking 23rd in SG: Approach during a 1-under 71 in an opening round where he largely stalled out, Scheffler improved to fifth in the metric on Friday. But one area that remains lacking for the world No. 1 is par-5 scoring. On a par-72 layout that features four par 5s, Scheffler has played them even par through two rounds. It’s hard to envision a scenario where he chases down Young over the weekend without taking better advantage of the longest holes.

Still, with conditions firming up and water within reach on nearly every hole, the second round was another reminder that “aim small, miss small” is a scary proposition when you’re as talented as Scheffler.

Parting shots

• 😥 A birdie on No. 18 capped what was otherwise a disappointing day on the greens for Jordan Spieth. That 26-foot make moved him from 70th to 63rd in SG: Putting during his second-round 71. Now T2 and five shots back, he’ll need the putter to re-heat in order to chase down his first win since 2022.
• 🤕 The slow-speed honeymoon may be coming to an abrupt end for Collin Morikawa. The two-time major champion surprisingly finished T4 and T7 at the Masters and RBC Heritage, respectively, while swinging gingerly as he recovered from a back injury. No such luck this week at Doral, where he’s 3 over (T61) and ranks 69th out of 72 players in Proximity.
• ⏰ Alex Fitzpatrick is wasting no time in putting his PGA TOUR card to use. The newest member, fresh off his Zurich Classic win alongside brother Matt, fired a 6-under 66 Friday to move into the top 10 in his first Signature Event start.
• 🗣️ Speaking of making the most of opportunities, Kristoffer Reitan – who edged out Brooks Koepka for the last spot in the field thanks to his T2 finish at Zurich – opened with rounds of 70-68 to join Fitzpatrick (and Scheffler, among others) in a tie for sixth.