Young in command; Smalley drops, but closes in on berth at Quail Hollow

Cameron Young took control while Alex Smalley dropped from contention at the Cadillac Championship, but Smalley remains in position to make a Signature leap on the PGA TOUR.

With his strong performance this weekend in South Florida, Smalley likely will qualify for next weekend’s Truist Championship, a Signature Event offering a $20 million purse to a field of about 80 players.

Otherwise, the Duke graduate who lives in Jamestown, would be one of 132 players competing for $4 million at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

Smalley shot 73 Saturday at Doral to drop from a tie for second into a tie for eighth, eight strokes behind Young. Thanks to a strong finish last week in the two-man Zurich Championship, Smalley held the No. 4 position in the Aon Swing 5, which takes the top five players in the last five non-Signature events.

Young shot 70 Saturday to improve to 15-under-par 201 through 54 holes.

Though Young, a former Wake Forest standout, has a six-stroke lead entering Sunday’s final round, he’ll play with Scottie Scheffler, the closest competitor, in the final group at 9:42 a.m. Tee times were moved up due to a forecast of inclement weather.