Austin Smotherman beats Seamus Power on the third playoff hole to win in Bermuda

Austin Smotherman won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on Monday morning, beating Seamus Power on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff at Port Royal Golf Course. It is his second PGA Tour win in as many starts, following the Bank of Utah Championship earlier this month.

The two finished the weather-shortened, 54-hole event tied at 16-under 197 after wind wiped out Sunday's final round. Smotherman shot 65-66-66 and Power 66-64-67. The playoff was played on the oceanside par-3 16th, and every extra hole went back to the same tee.

How the playoff went

On the first extra hole Smotherman missed the green right, chipped to about a foot and saved par. Power had roughly 20 feet for birdie and the title and missed on the left.

On the second, the wind knocked Smotherman's tee shot down onto the front of the green, and he lagged a long putt to tap-in range. Power found the left greenside bunker and got up and down to keep it going.

Officials then moved the hole to the front of the green. Smotherman hit it to about 15 feet. Power missed left again, into a poor lie in the rough, barely got his chip on the putting surface and ran his par putt well past. He made bogey, and Smotherman two-putted for par to win.

"Whatever things are going to be thrown at us, Zak [Williamson, caddie] and I were going to be on top of our game," Smotherman said afterward.

Money and status

Smotherman, 32, takes $1,080,000 from the $6 million purse, and Power gets $654,000. The Utah win, his first on Tour in his 100th career start, had already earned him a winner's exemption that carries onto the Tour's new Championship Series in 2028.

Power, 39, won this event in 2022 and was trying for his third Tour title. He came to Bermuda at No. 103 in the FedExCup Fall standings, and the runner-up finish moves him inside the top 100 who keep full cards for next season.

Both players have withdrawn from this week's VidantaWorld Mexico Open. Neither appears on the Tour's official field list for the event.

What was in the bag

Smotherman won with a Titleist GT3 driver (10 degrees), a TaylorMade Qi10 15-degree fairway wood, a TaylorMade SIM Max 19-degree hybrid, Titleist T100 irons (4-9), Titleist Vokey wedges, an L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putter and a Titleist Pro V1x ball, according to equipment lists from Golfweek and GolfWRX.

What to watch next

The Mexico Open starts Thursday, October 29, at Vidanta Vallarta, with Golf Channel carrying the TV coverage. The Golf Channel clip above has the winning moment. If you play on a simulator, a windy par 3 played from two different pins is a decent way to feel what Smotherman and Power dealt with Monday: same tee, same wind, and a different club once the hole moved forward.