Looking Back a Decade to Doral’s Last Appearance on the PGA TOUR

For the first time in a decade, the PGA TOUR returns to Trump National Doral this week for the revived Cadillac Championship. Golf fans should still be plenty familiar with the course known as the "Blue Monster" — it doesn't take long to remember why it earned the nickname.

From 1962 to 2016, Doral was a fixture on the TOUR schedule, capped by a run as host of the WGC-Cadillac Championship in its final years. The Dick Wilson design — later restored by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner after some of its original character was lost over time — plays as a par 72 stretching 7,739 yards. Whoever hoists the trophy Sunday will have earned it off the tee.

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Looking back at the 2016 leaderboard is a reminder of how much the game has changed. Adam Scott won at 12-under — still doing it, remarkably — with Bubba Watson in second and Danny Willett and Rory McIlroy sharing third. Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker, Paul Casey, Smylie Kaufman, Rickie Fowler, and Harris English rounded out the top 10. About a dozen players from that field will be on the tee sheet again Thursday.

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McIlroy, who has five top-10 finishes in eight career starts at Doral, won't be one of them. Just weeks removed from his Masters victory, the Northern Irishman is skipping this week in favor of the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow as he prepares for the PGA Championship. Also absent: Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Robert MacIntyre, and Ludvig Åberg.