Austin Smotherman secures Bermuda Major win in playoff, 2026
Smotherman clinches Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Monday playoff after final-round cancellation Austin Smotherman captured the Butterfield Bermuda Championship title in a sudden-death playoff...
Smotherman clinches Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Monday playoff after final-round cancellation
Austin Smotherman captured the Butterfield Bermuda Championship title in a sudden-death playoff that followed the cancellation of the event’s final round due to gusting winds reaching up to 40 mph at Port Royal Golf Club.
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Smotherman and Seamus Power were tied at 16-under par after the third round, when officials halted play on Sunday. With the championship hanging in the balance, the Tour scheduled a playoff for Monday morning.
On Sunday, Smotherman tried to stay occupied on the island before the restart. “Tried to sleep in, ordered some breakfast to the room,” he recalled Monday. “Luckily some football was on yesterday. Walked into town, went and had lunch at an Irish pub. Then just really twiddled our thumbs around the hotel walking around. Called my family probably five different times.” He left his hotel at 7 a.m. for an 8 a.m. playoff after what he described as a “brief modified warm-up.”
The playoff format repeatedly revisited the par-3 16th, with the winds rendering the practice range nearly unusable. Players were limited to wedges and short irons in warm-ups. The rules committee allowed both Smotherman and Power to warm up on the par-4 15th instead, so they could hit a shot that resembled what they would face on 16, aided by launch-monitor data to gauge wind and club selection, a Tour spokesperson told GOLF.
Improvised warm-up and wind conditions shape the playoff
Smotherman said the option to work on 15 and the use of launch-monitor data helped them gain a better read on the wind and the right club selections. “Similar wind directions,” he said after the playoff. “And we had the GCQuad [launch monitor] down, that was able to kind of see what some numbers were doing. The wind on the range was tough, I’m glad we weren’t playing straight into the breeze on 16 today, that would have been wild, but off the left was manageable.”
On the first playoff hole, Smotherman launched an 8-iron from 178 yards and missed the green to the right, but he got up and down to match Power’s par. His second tee shot—using the same club and distance—found the green but left him about 76 feet from the hole. Smotherman said he relied on feel for the lengthy lag putt, describing it as a matter of “walking it off and trusting your abilities.”
Both players parred the second playoff hole as well, which forced them back to the tee with the pin moved and the yardage reduced to 152. Smotherman again chose an 8-iron, aiming to flight the ball to control distance rather than risk a longer club into a shifting wind. He landed pin-high, leaving a 16-foot par attempt, which he two-putted to secure another par. Power missed his opportunity to make par and failed to get up and down, yielding Smotherman the victory — his second PGA Tour title in less than a month.
Why the win matters
Smotherman’s ability to adapt under disruption—an overnight delay, limited practice time and harsh winds—highlights the mental fortitude and tactical nuance required on the PGA Tour. His conservative club choices and the special permission to warm up on a different hole were pivotal in the outcome. Reflecting on the closing moments, Smotherman noted the risk of aiming toward the cliff edge and accepting the possibility of landing shots in the water. He even recalled telling his caddie, “I was trying to hit the cameraman on the back left edge of the green,” before the ball settled on the right side.
The rules committee’s flexibility is not without precedent. A Tour spokesperson noted that on-course practice ahead of sudden-death playoffs has been permitted at other events when logistics made warming up on the course more convenient than using the range, including the Corales Puntacana Championship, the CJ Cup at Byron Nelson and events on the Charles Schwab Cup circuit.
What happens next
The Butterfield Bermuda Championship will be recorded as a sudden-death decision, with Smotherman’s composure, short-game precision and prudent shot choices under windy conditions proving decisive. The playoff tested wind-driven decisions off the water and rewarded players who trusted feel and experience over repeated mechanics.
Smotherman’s victory adds to his recent strong form and should provide momentum heading into upcoming PGA Tour events. For the Tour, the weekend underscored the operational and competitive challenges weather can impose at coastal venues like Port Royal, and highlighted the ongoing need for flexible playoff procedures when conditions necessitate schedule changes.
Source: Original report
