Shane Lowry will close out a four-week stretch of tournaments at the Cadillac Championship in Miami, aiming to get some momentum to bring with him to the season’s second Major – the PGA Championship – in a fortnight’s time.
Lowry is certainly looking for some spark. Currently 41st on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings – the number to crack is the top-30 to make it to the megabucks Tour Championship – the missed cut in New Orleans last week where he paired-up with Brooks Koepka at the Zurich Classic came following a disappointing finish at the Masters and the RBC Heritage.
Paired with Keegan Bradley for the opening two rounds on the Blue Monster course, Lowry has opted to skip next week’s Truist Championship at Quail Hollow (another $20 million signature event on the PGA Tour) and will hope to get a confidence boost ahead of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Philadelphia.
Lowry is the sole Irish player in the 72-man field, with no cut in Doral, after Rory McIlroy decided to sit it out. The Northern Irishman, who hasn’t played since the Masters, is expected to return to action in next week’s Truist before heading on to the PGA Championship in Philadelphia.
World number one Scottie Scheffler has finished second in his two most recent outings at Augusta and Harbour Town and is the headline act in Miami on a course returning to the PGA Tour schedule for the first time since 2016, when Adam Scott won the then WGC-Cadillac Championship.
The tournament also provides a career-changing pathway for Alex Fitzpatrick, who teamed-up with his brother Matt – the current FedEx Cup number one – to win the Zurich Classic and earn fully-exempt status on the PGA Tour.
While his older brother has decided to rest up for the week, the younger Fitzpatrick has switched his playing priorities stateside. He was originally entered to play in the Turkish Airlines Open on the DP World Tour but swapped that transatlantic flight to Antalya for a shorter trip from New Orleans to Miami.
Of his expectations for the week in a first ever PGA Tour signature event appearance, Fitzpatrick said: “Just hopefully on the first tee I’ll hit the first fairway and then I’ll go from there. I feel like my game is in a good shape, I feel like I played really nicely last week, and over the past couple months my game’s improved a lot.
“So hopefully I can kind of continue the form and see where that takes me this week. But I have no expectations. Especially this week, I think it’s going to be a whirlwind and my head’s going to be everywhere, but hopefully that calms down after this week and I kind of settle in, hopefully settle in nicely.”
Adam Scott hugs his caddy after winning the WGC Cadillac Championship at Trump National, Doral in 2016. Photograph: Getty Images Lowdown
Purse: $20 million (€17.1 million)/$3.6 million (€3.08 million) to the winner.
Where: Doral, Miami.
The course: Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster – 7,739 yards, par 72 – course used to be a regular tour stop but hasn’t hosted a PGA Tour event since Adam Scott won the WGC-Cadillac at the Florida course in 2016. Originally designed by Dick Wilson and Robert von Hagge, and subsequently modernised by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner in 2014, the course features copious water hazards and strategic bunkering. The 18th is the course’s signature hole, with the demand on avoiding the hazard which runs down the left-hand side.
The field: Being a signature event on the PGA Tour with no cut, the tournament has attracted a strong field, headlined by world number one Scottie Scheffler but missing back-to-back Masters champion Rory McIlroy and in-form world number three Matt Fitzpatrick. Seven of the leading players from the world’s top-10 are playing, while eight of the leading 10 from the FedEx Cup standings are competing.
Irish in the field: Shane Lowry is the only Irish player in the 72-man field. Lowry has been paired with Keegan Bradley for the opening two rounds (with a first round tee-time of 7.35pm Irish time).
Quote-Unquote: “I think I’ve done a good job staying healthy and staying fit and strong and relevant to the modern game. There’s a big difference between being 35 and 45, I think. At 35 you are looking at like a Rory McIlroy-type age where you’re still really in your prime. I still feel like I can play at a high level, but I’m looking to lift the ceiling a little bit and get in there and win again, maybe the good vibes here from 10 years ago will help me this week.” – Adam Scott, the last winner of a PGA Tour at Doral in 2016, on remaining competitive into his mid-40s.
Betting: No surprise that Scheffler – who has finished runner-up in each of his last two tournaments, the Masters and the RBC Heritage – is the market leader at a tight 11-4 ahead of Cameron Young at 8-1 and Collin Morikawa at 11s. Sam Burns has shown glimmers of improved form after a poor start to the season when he missed three cuts in his opening five events and is worth a look at 16-1. Shane Lowry looks decent each-way value at 35s.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports from 4pm.