Hey, it’s a fall Monday, and the PGA Tour is in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, so let’s start with a quasi-mystical (but also very stupid) observation: An anagram of the name “Austin Smotherman” is “Autimns Re-Shot Man.” Now, is the word “autumn” spelled incorrectly here? Yes. Is trying to make “Re-Shot Man” a synonym for two-time winner a complete stretch? Also yes. But put together, is there—perhaps?—a ghostly Nostradamus-ian onomastic prediction that he would win two events in the fall swing this year?
Definitely, maybe.
But probably not.
In any case, that’s exactly what happened Monday morning at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, where Smotherman out-dueled Ireland’s Seamus Power in a playoff to capture his second victory in as many events. The 32-year-old SMU alum needed 100 starts to get his first win at the Bank of Utah Championship, but just 101 to get his second win, and now he’s positioned himself as a serious contender for the 2027 season. (Incidentally, he’s also crept closer to a Masters berth…he’s 54th in the world rankings now, and would need to be in the top 50 by year’s end to qualify.)
Smotherman had to play the treacherous par-3 16th hole three times in gusty conditions Monday morning (wind actually canceled the final round, making this just the second 54-hole event on tour this decade), and while Power managed to recover from an errant tee shot the second time around, a stubbed chip led to bogey on his third try, and Smotherman converted a straightforward par to win. As Dave Shedloski pointed out, though, it’s not all bad for Power–the Irishman moves from 103rd to 68th, guaranteeing him full status next year. Check out Dave’s excellent recap below, and if you decipher any other anagrams to help predict tour results, please let me know ASAP so I can get rich and go to Bermuda. It looks amazing.
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An Ohio golf course is offering a $5,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest after someone drove a "side by side" vehicle across the turf in the dead of night. Turkeyfoot Lake Golf Links, one of the oldest public golf courses in the Akron area, posted photos of the damage and has already sent video to local law enforcement.
The incident occurred near midnight on Saturday and the course is planning to pursue "all available criminal charges, as well as full restitution for the damages caused."
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John Catlin punched his ticket to both the Masters and British Open Sunday by winning the Asian Tour’s Hong Kong Open. The 35-year-old Californian, who also has a base in Thailand, shot a final-round 64 at Hong Kong Golf Club to win easily by five shots. The highest score he shot all week was a second-round 66. This will be his first appearance at Augusta National. In four previous Open appearances, he has missed the cut three times, but he tied for 16th place in 2024 at Royal Troon. "Hard to put it into words," he said.
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Here are the 70 players who qualified for the DP World Tour’s playoffs (and the first 5 out).
The first event is the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship (Nov. 5-8) at Yas Links Golf Club in Abu Dhabi. The top 30 following that will play in the DP World Tour Championship (Nov. 12-15) the following week at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.
Last season Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai, but it was Matt Fitzpatrick who won the DP World Tour Championship. McIlroy is looking for his fifth straight Race to Dubai title and eighth overall.
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