2026 Cadillac Championship Preview: Everything You Need To Know About The Blue Monster at Doral

The 2026 Cadillac Championship heads to Miami, as the Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral is set to host this PGA TOUR Signature Event. Find longer golf odds at the best sports betting sites to increase your potential Cadillac Championship payouts. Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Tommy Fleetwood are the favorites for this year’s Cadillac Championship.

The PGA TOUR is not done with the Florida Swing just yet. A brand new event this 2026 season brings us to Signature Event #5: The Cadillac Championship at the Blue Monster Course at Trump National Doral.

With Signature Event status, the Cadillac Championship harkens back to Doral’s roots as a WGC host from 2007-2016. Like the WGC era, we’ll see a limited field concentrated with the very best players on the PGA Tour. Virtually all of the best on the PGA TOUR will converge in Miami as this field of 72 gets ready to converge on Thursday.

In short, Trump National Doral is a long and demanding course that will offer an advantage to the longest total drivers in the field, and reward the most skilled ball strikers with proven experience on long and difficult venues.

Ahead, we’ll go through everything you need to know about the Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course in preparation for the 2026 Cadillac Championship.

CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: THE FAVORITES

Here are the favorites with odds shorter than 33-1 this week. Click on the odds and navigate to the sites with the best sportsbook promos for longshots.

THE FIELD AT A GLANCE

Many people are saying Trump National Doral has attracted the most beautiful field the PGA Tour has ever seen. In spite of that, the fake news media will tell you it’s the worst field in Signature Event history.

At the Cadillac Championship, five OWGR top-15 players have chosen not to tee it up: Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Robert MacIntyre, and Ludvig Aberg. For reference, the most recent Signature Event, the RBC Heritage two weeks ago, featured all but two eligible players. Those exceptions were Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama. That was hardly a surprise to see one or two players opt out the week after The Masters. This week, Adam Scott (2016) and Justin Rose (2012) are the only past winners at the Blue Monster in the field.

The appeal of these new Signature Events was meant to be their “undisputed” nature. That the game’s biggest stars would collectively plan their schedules around showing up at the eight biggest PGA Tour events of the year, and be lured in by increased prize money.

The result – having World No. 2 & World No. 3 say “Thanks but no thanks” to a prize purse of $20 Million – is quite telling.

What Does This Shift In Signature Event Participation Tell Us?

Above all else, it tells us that PGA Tour players love being independent contractors and hate being told when they have to play. They put major preparation above all else, despite the prize purses being just as high in Signature Events as in the Majors. While that sounds admirable – the idea of prioritizing legacy over lining their own pockets – it unearths a much larger issue when it comes to the current structure of the PGA Tour: Golfers are being paid too much money to golf.

The Signature Event model is not sustainable. It was necessary in the short term to prevent top players from leaving for LIV when the first sign of competition presented itself. LIV’s momentum has stalled, but so has the PGA Tour’s, as it just announced a round of layoffs last week. If you remove LIV from the equation, it begs the question, who asked for this?

Golf fans hate limited field, no cut events. It strips the drama from the week and delegitimizes the value of these wins when the depth of the field is put in question. What’s the point of watching golf on a Friday afternoon if there is no cut to sweat?

The players hate being told when and where they have to play. They don’t want to play four events over five weeks between The Masters and the PGA Championship. No amount of money will change their minds on that either.

The non-Signature Event sponsors hate this too! If you’re not AT&T, Mastercard, Genesis, RBC, Cadillac, Truist, Workday, or Travelers, why pay to sponsor a second-rate event? We saw the Cognizant Classic suffer a mass exodus when sandwiched between back-to-back Signature Events before and after. The Zurich Classic realized a similar fate this year (no McIlroy, Morikawa, Schauffele, Cantlay), and the AT&T Byron Nelson will be next to feel the collateral damage caused by these Signature Events.

Signature Events have caused an untenable situation for golf sponsors. Either over-pay for a Signature Event in order to fund the gaudy prize purses that, in cases like this week, are still not enough to guarantee the best players will come to your event. Or, sponsor a standard Tour event and watch as the stars from the past continue to erode from these fields.

How Do We Fix This?

We have to stop bunching up these Signature Events one after another. The “If we pay them, they will come” model is not working. Stars need to have the freedom to set their schedules between majors. There are seven tournaments after the final Signature Event, the Travelers Championship. Let’s push one of these back-to-back Signature Events to July for some late-season drama.

The PGA Tour also needs to have a rotation of events with Signature Status each year. It can’t simply be the same eight events year over year like it has been. By giving events like the 3M Open, Cognizant Classic, and CJ Cup Byron Nelson a chance to host a superstar field, sponsors will come back and pay more to be a part of it.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BLUE MONSTER COURSE

Established in 1962, Trump National Doral has a rich history on the PGA Tour, hosting every year from 1962-2006 as the Doral Open, and 2007-2016 as the WGC-Cadillac Championship. It is perhaps no small coincidence that Trump National Doral ceased hosting PGA Tour events the moment Donald Trump’s presidency began. With Turnberry also dropped from the Open rota in 2009, this will mark the first time a Trump golf course will host a PGA Tour event since Donald Trump took office.

Doral has not lain vacant since the WGC-Cadillac Championship ran its course in 2016. It has hosted LIV Miami from 2022-2025, which will serve as a useful reference point when handicapping how the course is playing today. In its last two seasons hosting LIV Miami individual competition, Marc Leishman won at -6 in 2025, and Dean Burmester won in a playoff over Sergio Garcia at -11 in 2024. Both events were contested over 54 holes.

The Blue Monster is a Dick Wilson design, which featured a Gil Hanse renovation in 2014. Hanse’s updates were primarily cosmetic to update the bunkering and turf, but also lengthened select tee boxes to ensure The Blue Monster remained just as monstrous in modern times as it was in 1962.

Doral is an iconic PGA Tour venue, and it is a true delight to see a course with so much history back on the PGA Tour schedule. The 18th hole is renowned as one of the most difficult and intimidating finishers in golf. As a 472-yard par-4 with water along the left side, it plays like a much longer version of 18 at TPC Sawgrass. We’ve seen many two-shot swings on this hole, including Craig Parry’s famous walk-off, hole-out eagle in 2004.

Tiger Woods’ Dominance

You can’t talk about Doral without mentioning Tiger Woods. Woods was a dominant force here during his prime, winning the event a staggering 7 times. Only at Firestone Country Club and Bay Hill has Woods won more (8 apiece).

A look across all of Woods’ most dominant courses connects a very linear trend: The longer the course, the easier for him to separate from the field. Woods picked up 27 wins across Doral, Bay Hill, Torrey Pines, and Augusta National. Each of these courses is known for its extreme length.

How It Breaks Down

The 7,739 behemoth will play as the longest course on the PGA Tour this season. For reference, that is more than 100 yards longer than Torrey Pines, Quail Hollow, or Augusta National, the three next closest. The 7,739 yardage is especially staggering considering this event is played at sea level in Miami, and is highly susceptible to winds that can make this course play even longer at times.

Distance is the main defense when it comes to Doral, but avoiding the water will be crucial, as is the case for most Florida venues. In 2016, Doral ranked 1st in penalties and 3rd in reloads. With the course playing over 200 yards longer 10 years later, we should expect players to continue to struggle on these high-pressure tee shots.

In short, Doral is a driver-heavy course that demands distance, long-iron approach play, scrambling, and the ability to avoid significant misfires with your ball striking. The cream has always risen to the top at Doral, and even if scores push beyond single-digits under par as we see at Bay Hill and the majors, we should expect to see a major-caliber leaderboard come Sunday.

TRUMP NATIONAL DORAL SPECS

• Yards: 7,739
• Par: 72 (4x 3s / 10x 4s / 4x 5s)
• Greens: Bermuda
• Architect: Dick Wilson (1962); Gil Hanse Renovation in 2014
• Comp Courses: The Concession Golf Club, Quail Hollow Club, Bay Hill, Valhalla Golf Club, Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines, Oak Hill, PGA National
• Official Scorecard:

COURSE HISTORY

I won’t be factoring course history into my model this week, considering 10 years have passed since the PGA Tour has competed at Doral. A total of 16 players have seen the Blue Monster before, so looking back on course history can help paint a picture of the player archetypes who set up well here.

Adam Scott is technically the defending champion at Doral, as he prevailed by one stroke to defeat Bubba Watson with an incredibly up-and-down on the treacherous 18th hole.

There are 10 players in the field with positive course history since 2015 in terms of strokes gained at Doral (in order): Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Jason Day, Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Hideki Matsuyama, Daniel Berger, and Justin Rose.

Six additional players have past experience at Doral, with negative course history since 2015: Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Russell Henley, David Lipsky, and Tommy Fleetwood.

COURSE COMPS

Bay Hill and Quail Hollow stand out as the most apparent comp courses to the Blue Monster. Both venues place a premium on driving distance while still offering a stern test all around from tee to green. Both venues are also played on Bermuda greens. As previously mentioned, Tiger Woods saw significant overlapping success on the Florida Swing between Doral and Bay Hill, with a combined 15 career wins between these two events.

The Concession Golf Club, though only hosting one PGA Tour event, the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship, embodies the same core characteristics we’ll see this week at Doral. The Concession was another Florida venue with Bermuda grass throughout and featured ample water hazards as its primary line of defense. At 7,564 yards, The Concession was one of the longest courses played on Tour in 2021, so it’s remarkable to note that Doral will play nearly 200 yards longer. Collin Morikawa (1st), Viktor Hovland (T2), and Scottie Scheffler (5th) each contended at the 2021 WGC-Workday and will tee it up again this week.

After these three, Torrey Pines, Bethpage Black, Valhalla GC, Oak Hill, and PGA National fall in the next tier for me as comparable long and difficult courses. Torrey Pines and PGA National in particular, share the commonality of high gusting winds as well, which we’ve come accustomed to seeing at Doral historically.

Whenever we talk about long, difficult courses, it’s natural to reference performance at Augusta National. Looking at the most recently played PGA Tour event at Doral in 2016, each of the top-5 finishers (Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett, Phil Mickelson) is a Masters champion. In fact, Willett went on to parlay his top-5 finish into a win at the Masters just three starts later.

Combine performance across this list, and the top-10 players in Comp Course History here are Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Daniel Berger, Corey Conners, Russell Henley, Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, Harris English, and Max Homa. 

KEY STATS TO CONSIDER WITH CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS

• Recent Form (SG: TOT L16)
• SG: T2G
• SG: APP / Prox: 200+
• Driving Distance / SG: OTT
• SG: ARG / Scrambling
• SG: T2G (>7,400 Yard Courses)
• SG: TOT & Bogey Avoidance (Difficult Scoring Conditions)
• SG: Putting (Bermuda) / 3-Putt Avoidance
• Course & Comp Course History

When in doubt, start modeling with SG: T2G to prioritize the top-trending players leading into the week. I’ll be doing just that in a week where true course history lapses up to a decade. The top-10 players in SG: T2G are Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Si Woo Kim, Chris Gotterup, Patrick Cantlay, Ryo Hisatsune, Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood, and Russell Henley. 

Like many other modern long and difficult venues, we must keep the pedal down on Driving Distance importance. At Doral, length is the greatest challenge players will face, so it’s crucial for players to be at least field-average in distance. The top-10 in Driving Distance in this field entering this week are: Chris Gotterup, Aldrich Potgieter, Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Nicolai Hojgaard, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Kurt Kitayama, Cameron Young, and Pierceson Coody.

The Blue Monster’s combination of four 470+ yard par-4s, three 215+ yard par-3s, and four par-5s combines to draw a significant 56% of approaches from beyond 200 yards. The top 10 players in weighted proximity from 200+ yards are: Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Sungjae Im, Sepp Straka, Ryan Fox, Hideki Matsuyama, Aldrich Potgieter, Corey Conners, and Jake Knapp.

More Than Just A Bomber’s Course

Its sheer length may be enough to cross off certain players from contending for their lack of distance alone. Of note, however, two of the par-5s measure over 600 yards, and may play as a three-shotter for the entire field, so bombers will not simply walk away with a birdie on every par 5 at Doral. I’m looking for players who have a proven history from tee-to-green on the longest PGA Tour venues, can avoid bogeys in difficult conditions, and elevate their baselines putting on Bermuda greens.

There are 10 players who rank above average across those three categories: Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young, Viktor Hovland, Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy, Jordan Spieth, and Denny McCarthy.

The ideal player for this week should be above average in Comp Course History, Driving Distance, SG: T2G, Prox: 200+, and Scrambling. Seven players meet each of those criteria: Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Jason Day, Keegan Bradley, and Ryo Hisatsune.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: GARY WOODLAND

Can the 41-year-old double-dip for his second win on the PGA Tour this season? You could not draw up a better course setup for him to do so if his renaissance season continues into Miami.

Woodland has been absolutely mashing the golf ball in 2026, ranking top-5 in this field in Driving Distance and gaining at least 15 yards per drive on the field average in every single start this season. Woodland conquered a long, driver-heavy course at the Texas Children’s Houston Open three starts ago, and has kept the pedal down with finishes of T33 at The Masters and T8 at the RBC Heritage since. He ended the RBC Heritage with an exclamation point as well, holing out for eagle on the final hole with a beautifully flighted long iron into the gusting winds of Harbour Town. That is a skillset that very few others possess in this field, so his combination of pure distance and shot-making to withstand gusting winds will offer him a distinct advantage at Doral.

Woodland’s career is full of highs on the Florida swing. He picked up his first career PGA Tour victory at the Valspar Championship in 2011 and nearly won the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational before a water ball on the 17th hole resigned him to a T5 finish.

Woodland’s experience at Doral will also give him a familiarity advantage over the younger players, seeing the Blue Monster for the first time this week. Woodland will be making his fourth career appearance at Doral this week, with prior finishes of T23, T16, and T29. In his most recent trip to Doral in 2015, Woodland ranked 3rd in SG: Ball Striking behind Dustin Johnson and J.B. Holmes.

With a much improved short game in 2026, I would not be surprised to see Woodland separate like he did at Memorial Park with his game clicking on all cylinders now.

2026 CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: DFS PLAYER POOL

With all the course-fit profiles in mind, I’m leaning early toward the below player pool. Naturally, I’m looking their way in the 2026 Cadillac Championship odds as well. I’ve broken the list down by projected pricing/odds tier for DraftKings Sportsbook.

CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS: MODEL RESULTS & BREAKDOWN

2026 Cadillac Championship Model Breakdown

In my model, I’m emphasizing Comp Course History, Prox 200+, SG: APP, SG: T2G (Very Long Courses), and SG: ARG, followed by a more balanced mix of Driving Distance, SG: P (L36, Bermuda), and Bogey Avoidance (Difficult Scoring Conditions).

Model Favorites

With several top names opting to skip this Signature Event, the door is left wide open for World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, as he continues to percolate. Scheffler claims the No. 1 spot in my model by a sizeable gap, and feels like the inevitable contender we’ve grown used to seeing once again.

After Scheffler, my model’s top 10 features Collin Morikawa, Russell Henley, Cameron Young, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, and Si Woo Kim.

When the odds open on Monday, I’ll look to center my card around Gary Woodland, Viktor Hovland, and Jake Knapp, depending on where the odds ultimately fall.

Check back in later this week for more updates, and best of luck navigating the 2026 Cadillac Championship odds!

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Photo Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack