Cameron Young takes slender one-shot lead at PGA Cadillac Championship

[p][b]"I feel like I made a billion feet of putts,"[/b] said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/young-cameron/WAjf7EFq/"]Young[/a], who had eight birdies without a bogey and was rolling them in from on and off the green.[/p][p][b]"Every time my ball got near the hole it seemed to want to go in today,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]Young was one stroke ahead of three-time major champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spieth-jordan/p0739Ny4/"]Jordan Spieth[/a] and fellow American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smalley-alex/z1h2TxzH/"]Alex Smalley[/a].[/p][p]Young, who won the Players championship in March and contended at the Masters before finishing tied for third behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]Rory McIlroy[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a], got his round going with a birdie at the second, where he landed his approach inches from the pin.[/p][p]He rolled in a 41-foot birdie at the fourth and, after another short birdie at the fifth, made a 28-foot birdie putt from off the green at seven.[/p][p]Birdies at 10 and 11 were followed by another 25-foot birdie putt from off the green at 15 and after he took a one-shot lead with a birdie at 16 he made a testing six-foot par putt at 17 to maintain the advantage.[/p][embed guid="65e5cd80-12c2-48b8-9f2e-144375eeb6fb" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2049964605368139843" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"I saw a few go in early and it was just one of those days,"[/b] Young said. [b]"I just had a really nice feel for the greens today."[/b][/p][p]Young, who won the first of his two PGA Tour titles to date at the Wyndham Championship in August, has three top-five finishes this year and has climbed to number four in the world.[/p][p]Spieth holed out for eagle at the eighth to highlight his round. He was eight-under through 15 but made his second bogey of the day at 16.[/p][h2]Playing the right way[/h2][p][b]"It was a very nice start,"[/b] said Speith, who was seven-under through 11 and said he took advantage early when the breeze was minimal and the greens were soft.[/p][p][b]"I don't foresee seven-unders every day,"[/b] Spieth said.[b] "I knocked a couple putts in from the fringe which is a bonus and the rest of the round I just played really the right way."[/b][/p][p]Smalley, chasing his first PGA Tour title, had eight birdies and one bogey, seizing his share of second with birdies at 16 and 17.[/p][p]Canadian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/taylor-nick/bRN84Bas/"]Nick Taylor[/a] was alone in fourth after a six-under 66, but world number one Scottie Scheffler got off to a disappointing start with three birdies and two bogeys in a one-under 71 that left him seven off the pace.[/p][p]The $20 million signature event marks the PGA Tour's return to the Blue Monster course at Trump National Doral for the first time since 2016.[/p][embed guid="47d643f2-99d2-46b2-9d84-eac507eb1630" url="https://x.com/cadillac_champ/status/2049994565155799276" social-type="twitter" /][p]The venue had featured on the PGA Tour calendar for more than half a century, hosting a tournament annually from 1962 to 2016 when it staged the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship.[/p][p]The tournament was moved after sponsor Cadillac decided not to renew its sponsorship and a replacement could not be found.[/p][p]The PGA Tour, which had been sharply critical of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign rhetoric concerning immigrants, relocated the event to Mexico - prompting a furious reaction from Trump at the time.[/p][p]Since then, Doral had hosted a stop in the breakaway LIV Golf circuit.[/p]