Doral , Indian-American golfer Sahith Theegala got off to a blistering start, firing three birdies in his first five holes, but then cooled off to end round one with a card of 3-under 69 at the 2026 Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral.
Theegala, who has had four Top-10s this season, is tied ninth, four strokes behind leader Cameron Young at the USD20 million Signature Event.
Among the other Indian origin players, Akshay Bhatia shot 2-under 70 and was Tied-15 while Indo-Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju was T-52.
Bhatia was 3-under and would have been in Top-10 but for his closing bogey on the 18th. He hit his tee shot into the water and took a penalty and ended with a bogey.
Theegala showed consistent form and recorded birdies on key holes such as the par-4 2nd and the par-5 10th, continuing his high-level play this season.
Theegala’s strong performance puts him in a good position to contend for his first win of the 2026 season on the demanding “Blue Monster” course.
Theegala’s round featured an aggressive start, punctuated by an early birdie on the par-4 2nd hole with a 19-foot putt and followed that up with a second birdie on the Par-3 third from 15 feet.
A third birdie came on the par-4 fifth, when he hit his second shot to six feet and holed it. Four pars followed and then came a good birdie on the 10th, where he hit his third shot from the rough to under four feet for a birdie. He dropped shots on the 11th and the 13th, when he missed putts from 13 and 14 feet. A final birdie on Par-3 15th saw him finish at 69.
Young led the field after a blistering bogey-free 8-under 64, followed closely by Jordan Spieth and Alex Smalley at 7-under.
Spieth chipped in for an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole and survived a pair of bogeys on the back nine.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made three birdies in the first five holes, then did not get another the rest of the day. Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 dropped him to 1-under, and that’s where he stayed.
Nick Taylor, with a 66, was in fourth, two shots off of Young’s lead, while Nico Echavarria was three shots back after an opening-round 67.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
