Bermuda reduced to 54 holes, Austin Smotherman-Seamus Power playoff to determine winner Monday
Kenneth Richmond
The decision is final, the Butterfield Bermuda Championship will be a 54-hole event, the PGA Tour said Sunday after announcing earlier in the day that there would be no play. But a winner has not yet been determined as Austin Smotherman and Seamus Power are tied for the lead. They will return Monday morning to sort things out via a playoff, although weather again is supposed to be awful.
The tour’s communications team sent out a social media post early Sunday saying that because of gusts more than 40 mph tee times would be delayed at Port Royal Golf Course. But two hours later the final decision for the day came down, saying “with no improvement to the current weather conditions and anticipated further deterioration, there will be no play today.”
Smotherman and Power are tied for the lead at 16 under par. It will be the first sudden-death playoff for Smotherman. Power is 1-0 in playoffs, topping J.T. Poston on the sixth extra hole to win the 2021 ISCO Championship in Kentucky. It will begin, hopefully at 8 a.m. ET, on the 16th hole and will be aired on Golf Channel. Taylor Moore, Corey Conners and Ben Silverman were all tied for third place, two shots back. But again, that is now final.
This, of course, is an important decision for most of the field as exempt status on the PGA Tour is on the line. Those inside the top 100 in FedEx Cup rankings following the RSM Classic will receive that status. Anyone finishing Nos. 51-60 will get into the first two signature events of 2027.
Smotherman won the Bank of Utah Championship earlier this month and came into the week No. 52 in points. The 39-year-old Irishman Power, however, came into the week at No. 103 and would jump up to 53 with a victory in Bermuda on Monday. Moore, who tied for third, came into the week ranked 109th in points.
The last Monday finish on the PGA Tour came back in June at the Travelers Championship, with Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland left to decide the title, which Hovland won.
Monday's forecast appears "unfavorable" according to the tour, which it why they deemed it impossible to get the entire field around the golf course on Monday to play a fourth round. The tour moves to the VidantaWorld Mexico Open next week, which is set to being on Thursday.