29th Feb 2016 | WGC Workday Championship
WGC Cadillac Championship Trends
The world’s top golfers are present at Doral for the WGC event. We look at the trends of past winners.
A 67-man field, including most of the world’s top-50, line up at the constantly evoloving Doral. The course underwent significant changes prior to the 2014 Cadillac Championship and the course has been altered again, with significant bunkering added throughout the course.
The one factor that hasn’t change is it’s long, very long. The par-72 nicknamed the Blue Monster measures a hefty 7,481 yards and bombers dominated the upper echelons of the leaderboard last year.
These are the common trends linking the past nine winners.
Top-30 on tour for adjusted scoring average
Seven of the last nine winners ranked inside the top-30 on tour for adjusted scoring average. Patrick Reed is the biggest outlier, he ranked 52nd in 2014. Geoff Ogilvy also falls outside the cut line, winning in 2008 when ranked a commendable 31st on tour.
Top-30 on tour tee-to-green
The test at Doral is mainly tee-to-green. The course is long and there is plenty of water waiting to capture wayward approach shots. Seven of the last nine winners ranked inside the top-30 on tour for this metric, those that missed out were Partick Reed (93rd in 2014) and Geoff Ogilvy (32nd in 2008).
Top-60 on tour for driving distance
Six of the last nine winners ranked inside the top-60 on tour for driving distance but changes at Doral have been in favour of big hitters. Last year’s top-5 comprised Dustin Johnson, JB Holmes, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson. That is four of the five longest hitters on tour in 2015.
Bad tournament for debutants
Patrick Reed (2014) was the first debutant to win the WGC Cadillac Championship since the tournament moved to Doral. Tiger Woods won the inaugural edition but he’d already tasted success on the Blue Monster course having won the Doral Open in 2005 and 2006.
Players that fit all three trends:
Rory McIlroy 8/1 Skybet
Adam Scott 10/1 Skybet
Dustin Johnson 12/1 Skybet
Rickie Fowler 16/1 Skybet
Justin Rose 25/1 Skybet
J B Holmes 25/1 Skybet
Phil Mickelson 33/1 Skybet
Hideki Matsuyama 33/1 Skybet
Jimmy Walker 50/1 Skybet
Marc Leishman 66/1 Skybet
Odds correct at time of publishing: 04:02 29th Feb, 2016 but subject to change
