2026 Cadillac Championship Power Rankings: Top 10 Golfers To Watch

April 27, 2026

Ian McNeill ranks his top-10 PGA Tour players to watch at the 2026 Cadillac Championship from Trump National: Doral. His data-backed insights into who is primed for success.

The return of Doral after a 10-year absence brings back one of the PGA Tour’s most demanding championship venues. Playing at roughly 7,700 yards, the Blue Monster once stood as one of the toughest tests in professional golf, ranking inside the top five in difficulty in each of its final three seasons on Tour from 2014–2016.

While the absence of Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Ludvig Åberg has slightly softened the very top end of the field, 14 of the world’s top 20 are still in attendance. And with a few of the game’s biggest stars missing, the opportunity is there for a less-heralded elite to turn early-season form into a breakthrough week on one of the Tour’s biggest stages.

But how does this elite field stack up at the top -- and who, if anyone, should you be targeting on pre-week betting boards? Without further ado, here are my top ten players to watch at the 2026 Cadillac Championship!

No. 10 - Gary Woodland

After securing one of the defining moments of the season in his comeback win at the Houston Open, Gary Woodland would have been forgiven for taking a step back in the weeks that followed.

Instead, the 41-year-old has only built on that momentum -- posting his best Masters finish in three years (T33) before a dynamite four days in Hilton Head yielded his top result in a Signature Event (T8) since the series began in 2024.

That surge has been driven by a sustained stretch of elite ball-striking. Woodland gained 4.7 strokes on approach at Harbour Town (fourth in the field), and over his last four starts, he’s averaging +3.5 strokes per tournament with his irons. Pair that with his continued excellence off the tee -- where he ranks fourth in this field over his last 20 rounds -- and it’s easy to see why his game is trending in the right direction.

Doral should provide an ideal venue for that skill set to travel. Woodland has both the power and the history to handle the Blue Monster, never finishing outside the top 30 in three career starts here while posting two of the best driving performances of his career in 2014 (+6.48) and 2015 (+7.40).

And despite entering his age-42 season, that power hasn’t gone anywhere. Woodland still ranks second on the PGA Tour in ball speed (189.17) and sits sixth in this field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee.

He’ll likely need a spike week on the greens similar to the +8.33 he gained in Houston to truly contend, but from tee to green, the handicap this week isn’t all that different from Memorial Park. Given the form he’s in, Woodland looks well-positioned to improve on his career-best finish of 16th at this event.

No. 9 - Russell Henley

Dialed in on the approach!

The reigning @APinv champ Russell Henley sets up an easy tap-in birdie on No. 10. He sits at even par through 11.

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— Golfbet (@Golfbet) March 5, 2026

While Russell Henley doesn’t fit the traditional bomber’s mold that Doral has historically favored, there have been enough examples through the years of shorter, more methodical players holding their own around the Blue Monster with elite long-iron play and a reliable short game.

Doral has never been entirely a one-note test -- and at Augusta earlier this month, Henley showed he’s more than capable of contending on a long, demanding championship setup against the best players in the world. More importantly, he did so on the strength of his irons, gaining +9.61 strokes on approach in what stands as one of the best performances of his career.

Additionally, Henley’s last win came just over a year ago at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club and Lodge -- another long, difficult Florida course that serves as one of the better agronomic comps for this week. Both venues feature TifEagle Bermudagrass greens, a surface Henley has long excelled on, ranking fifth in this field in strokes gained putting on Bermuda over his last 50 rounds.

Although he finished 56th here in his only start back in 2015, Henley still gained nearly 3.5 strokes on the greens that week, an encouraging sign that at least one key component of this test suits his eye.

In the years since, he’s developed into one of the most reliable tee-to-green players in the game, ranking eighth in this field over the last 12 months when combining strokes gained off the tee, on approach, and around the greens. And with eight top-25 finishes in his first 10 starts of the 2026 season, Henley arrives in both strong form and rhythm.

If you’re willing to lean into a more controlled profile this week, Henley makes for a compelling pivot from the volatility that typically defines this course.

No. 8 - Si Woo Kim

While not nearly as deficient as Russell Henley when it comes to pure speed off the tee, Si Woo Kim is another elite name that will have to contend with Doral’s heavily power-driven profile this week.

That said, the underlying numbers still point to a player doing a lot of things at a very high level. He sits second in this field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green this season and ranks fourth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee despite sitting outside the top 40 in driving distance.

The real separator, though, is still his iron play. Si Woo ranks second and third in this field in proximity from 150–200 and 200+ yards, which given the distance he'll be giving up to many of the names on this list, will be a key asset if he wants to keep up.

We’ve already seen him lean on that strength in similar environments this season as well. At Torrey Pines last February, Kim finished as a runner-up despite losing 20+ yards off of the tee compared to others on the first page of the leaderboard. And the very next week, he logged a third-place finish at the WM Open -- an event which saw bombers like Chris Gotterup, Scottie Scheffler, Nicolai Hojgaard, Jake Knapp, and Michael Thorbjornsen all attain top-10 finishes on the backs of a 320-yard average off of the tee.

While Kim may not be the prototypical fit for a bomber’s venue like this, the underlying profile is simply too complete to dismiss. He remains one of the most reliable tee-to-green players in the field, and on courses where long-iron play can counteract a deficiency in raw power, his skill set has proven more than viable.

No. 7 - Adam Scott

In a field where many are seeing Doral for the first time, 2016 Cadillac Champion Adam Scott stands alone as a proven course ringer around the Blue Monster.

Not only did the Aussie win the last Tour event played on this ground, but he also posted finishes of sixth, 13th, third, and fourth in the five-year stretch leading into that victory a decade ago -- making this one of the most consistent course records of his generation.

From a pure ball-striking standpoint, Scott authored arguably the best week of his career here in 2016, gaining an absurd +14.79 strokes tee to green over four rounds. That was nearly four more than runner-up Bubba Watson and almost double the output of third-ranked Charl Schwartzel.

And while much of that success dates back to his peak years, Scott’s game has aged more gracefully than most. Through the first four months of the 2026 season, only Collin Morikawa has gained more strokes with his irons on a per-round basis. From 200 yards and beyond, he has been the most efficient long-iron player in this field over the last 12 months -- an especially valuable edge at a venue that will once again stretch beyond 7,700 yards.

Even the power profile hasn’t fallen off. Despite his age, Scott still ranks inside the top 15 on Tour in ball speed, actually averaging 184.53 mph -- about four mph faster than his 2016 peak (180.23).

With the course history, the long-iron profile, and the current form all aligning, Scott returns to Doral as one of the clearest proven commodities in the field.

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It’s always fun to hit an outright, especially when it’s over 100/1 and with a player that has a story like Gary Woodland!

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No. 6 - Hideki Matsuyama

Birdie-birdie finish to win it all in Memphis 🏆

Hideki Matsuyama is back to DEFEND his title this week @FedExChamp.

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If there is such thing as a dark horse at the top of this Signature Field, Hideki Matsuyama is once again showing signs of a player primed for another run at a maiden win in 2026.

Despite not truly contending since a heartbreaking playoff loss in Phoenix last February, Hideki's displaying a remarkable week-to-week baseline -- logging just one finish worse than 28th all season, whilst sitting as the only player in this field to rank inside the top 10 in both SG: Approach and SG: Around the Greens.

That combination becomes especially valuable as the Tour moves into a stretch of three demanding, championship-caliber tests. And in his last two starts, the Japanese No. 1 has flashed a ball-striking ceiling that should put the golfing world on notice.

At the Valero Texas Open earlier this month, Matsuyama gained over eight shots to the field between his driving andiron play (good for fourth in the field). And the next week at Augusta National, the 2021 Champion recorded his best finish since winning his green jacket five years ago (T12), gaining over 4.5 shots on approach.

From a man that has historically thrived on longer, difficult golf courses, the 7,700 yards at Doral should prove a welcome sight. His putter held him back in three starts here from 2014-2016, losing a combined 5.7 strokes on the greens en route to finishes of 23rd, 34th, and 35th. But that historical fault in Matsuyama's profile has been largely patched to this point in 2026. In fact, over his last seven starts, Hideki has lost strokes on the greens just once. And the wayward driver that ultimately cost him in Phoenix has stabilized as well: ranking 18th in Driving Accuracy over his last 24 rounds.

Things seem to be coming together for Hideki on all fronts, and if public sentiment hasn't yet caught up, I see him as one of the more compelling upside cases on the board.

For a player who admitted just two weeks ago that he’s still been “afraid to swing” at times during his recovery from the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the PLAYERS Championship, the results sheet continues to suggest he remains one of the PGA Tour’s premier weekly threats.

Morikawa returned from that WD to post a T7 at Augusta National, a finish largely buoyed by the best putting week of his career. He followed that up with an even more complete performance at the RBC Heritage, where he led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+9.66) and ranked second on approach (+5.81) en route to a T4 finish.

On pure output, those are the kinds of numbers that would normally erase any lingering concern. But Doral presents a different test entirely. At nearly 7,800 yards with long, exposed tee shots and a premium on speed off the tee, the Blue Monster will ask a question Morikawa hasn’t fully answered since returning: how much of his driver has he truly reclaimed?

So far, he’s been able to “bunt” his way around Augusta and Harbour Town and still contend, but that margin shrinks significantly here. If he’s to win this week, some measurable progress in club head speed and full-swing confidence off the tee will likely be required.

The encouraging sign is that Morikawa has had a full week at home following his top-five at Harbour Town, and told reporters that a controlled environment may be exactly what he needs to continue rebuilding that confidence. Even so, there will be no discount on the betting board given his recent play. He remains one of the most volatile entities in the field -- capable of winning outright, but still carrying a very real concern into the demanding test at Trump Doral.

No. 4 - Jake Knapp

A 74th-place finish at Harbour Town was far from the standard we’ve come to expect from Jake Knapp in what’s been a breakout 2026 campaign, but it does little to shake my confidence in the overall profile as we head into golf’s Championship stretch.

He still sits fifth in this field in Strokes Gained: Total over the first four months of the year, and his power remains tailor-made for a Doral setup that will once again stretch beyond 7,700 yards. Even in one of his worst performances of the season, Knapp still gained 4.4 strokes on approach, and the week prior at Augusta he produced one of the better tee-to-green displays in the field, gaining over eight strokes combined between his driving and iron play. His 323-yard driving average that week ranked second only to Rory McIlroy.

The elite traits aren’t limited to ball-striking either. Despite losing over 10 strokes on the greens at Harbour Town, Knapp still ranks seventh on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting for the 2026 season, having gained at least four strokes on the greens in six of his first eight starts before that outlier week on Hilton Head.

With seven finishes of 11th or better already this season, the golf world has been waiting for the true ceiling week from Jake Knapp. At a venue that rewards his speed off the tee, elite long-iron play, and in a Signature field missing several of its usual headliners, Doral presents a clear opportunity for him to turn that upside into a breakthrough on one of the sport’s bigger stages.

While the results have inevitably taken a step back compared to his breakneck start to the season, the underlying numbers still suggest Chris Gotterup remains one of the Tour’s most dangerous weekly threats. And unlike many of his fellow bombers that are sure to occupy many a shortlist this week, Gotterup's profile comes with very little in the way of obvious flaws.

He’s gained strokes on approach in each of his last nine starts, ranks inside the top 25 in short-game performance (including 12th from greenside bunkers), and sits among the top 10 putters on Bermudagrass. Two of his four career wins have also come on Bermudagrass layouts in Myrtle Beach and Wai’alae --surfaces that share more than a passing resemblance to what he’ll see in Miami.

Even as the Tour transitioned to a more positional layout a week ago in Hilton Head, Gotterup still flashed the elite off the tee ceiling he's become known for. He gained 3.42 strokes with his driving alone over those four days -- good for fourth in that elite field.

That driver will be far less constrained at Doral, which should allow him to fully unlock his biggest weapon. He’s already shown that ceiling on similar power-forward layouts this season, gaining a combined 12.26 strokes off the tee at TPC Scottsdale, Torrey Pines, and Memorial Park.

If that level of driving continues, the upside is well documented from the 26-year-old New Jerseyan. He's logged three wins in his last 18 starts as a professional, and in Scotland and Phoenix in particular, stared down two of the strongest fields of the year to do so. I trust his mettle on Sunday as much as anyone in this field, and expect him to be a key target of mine should his position on the odds board not reflect this ranking.

I was frankly looking forward to the Rory-Scottie debate at a golf course where McIlroy has historically thrived, but with the Irishman still absent following his Masters triumph, we are once again left with a field where Scottie Scheffler is the clear man to beat.

Although the Cadillac Championship at Doral went on hiatus before Scheffler made his mark in the professional game, the Blue Monster’s demanding, driver-heavy profile mirrors many of the tests where he has already separated himself from the pack.

That list is as strong as anyone in the game: multiple wins at TPC Sawgrass and Bay Hill -- two of the Florida Swing's other most difficult venues. Five combined victories at Quail Hollow, Muirfield Village, and Augusta National -- a trio of the Tour's most complete ball-striking tests. And the last time we saw Scottie in competition, he came within a shot of Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage despite never really appearing to leave second gear.

The underlying profile matches the résumé. Along with boosting his putting ranking by nearly 150 spots in the last 3 years (162nd -> 13th), Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens, ranks third in this field off the tee, and sits inside the top 10 in both key proximity ranges (150–200 and 200+ yards). There is simply no phase of championship golf where he presents a structural weakness.

In what must be the weakest Signature Event field in the series' history, it would make perfect sense for this to be the week Scheffler puts everything together for a breakthrough win in 2026. As early markets show on Monday morning (+300 to win outright), the burden of proof sits entirely on those trying to beat him.