Austin Smotherman defeated Ireland's Seamus Power in a sudden-death play-off on Monday to win the weather-affected Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course.
Smotherman clinched the title with a two-putt par on the third extra hole after Power recorded a bogey. The victory gave Smotherman his second consecutive PGA Tour title in as many starts, adding to his triumph at the Bank of Utah Championship earlier this month.
The two players had finished 54 holes tied for the lead on 16 under par after Saturday's third round. Tournament officials postponed Sunday's play due to strong winds before cancelling the final round altogether because of further poor weather.
With the tournament shortened to 54 holes, Smotherman and Power returned to Port Royal Golf Course on Monday morning in breezy conditions to decide the winner in a sudden-death play-off.
Monday play-off at Port Royal Golf Course
The play-off was contested on loop on the par-three 16th hole, which measured 178 yards for the first two extra holes. On the first play-off hole, Smotherman produced an up-and-down recovery from the right of the green to save par and match Power's two-putt par.
Both players returned to the 16th tee to play the hole a second time at the same yardage. Power splashed out of the sand to five feet and holed his putt to make par, while Smotherman found the green and two-putted from distance to keep the play-off level.
Officials changed the hole location and cut the yardage from 178 yards to 152 yards ahead of the third extra hole. Momentum shifted toward Smotherman when Power hit his iron tee shot into the left rough and barely advanced his ball onto the green with his second shot, leading to a bogey.
Smotherman then two-putted from 15 feet for par to close out the play-off and claim the trophy.
Reaction from Austin Smotherman
Speaking after his victory, Smotherman praised the work of his caddie, Zak Williamson, and thanked the PGA Tour for its communication with the field during the weather disruptions.
"We're out here playing an incredible sport in a beautiful spot," Smotherman said after his win. "Whatever things are going to be thrown at us, Zak [Williamson, caddie] and I were going to be on top of our game.
"Yesterday [Sunday] I felt like we handled everything pretty well and the tour has been great, communicating what's going to happen today for us. Once we got that news, it was nice to know what's going on. To come out on top is a cherry on top of that, so pretty awesome."
Smotherman is an American professional golfer from California who played collegiate golf at Southern Methodist University in Texas before turning professional in 2016. Power, an Irish professional from County Waterford who played college golf at East Tennessee State University, has represented Ireland at the Olympic Games and is a past winner on the PGA Tour, including a previous victory at the Bermuda Championship.
First three rounds and weather delays
Smotherman moved into a share of the 54-hole lead by shooting three consecutive rounds in the 60s. He opened the tournament with a 65 and followed it with successive rounds of 66 over the next two days to reach 16 under par.
Power matched that 16-under total on Saturday by carding a four-under-par 67 in the third round to join Smotherman at the top of the leaderboard.
Strong winds halted play on Sunday before the PGA Tour announced on Sunday evening that the tournament would be declared a 54-hole event due to an "unfavourable weather forecast and uncertainty surrounding the completion of the entire final round".
Standard PGA Tour stroke-play events are scheduled over 72 holes across four rounds, though tour rules permit an event to be completed over 54 holes when weather prevents a fourth round, with ties for first place settled in a hole-by-hole sudden-death play-off. Port Royal Golf Course, a public course in Southampton Parish designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., has hosted the Butterfield Bermuda Championship since the tournament joined the PGA Tour calendar in 2019.
Recent PGA Tour records and next event in Mexico
With his back-to-back titles in Utah and Bermuda, Smotherman becomes the eighth multiple winner on the PGA Tour this season. He is also the first golfer to win successive PGA Tour tournaments since English golfer and former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
The shortened event in Bermuda was the first 54-hole tournament on the PGA Tour since the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
The PGA Tour now moves to Mexico for the VidantaWorld Mexico Championship, which begins on Thursday at Vidanta Vallarta, where Brian Campbell returns as the defending champion.
