Butterfield Bermuda Championship: Austin Smotherman Wins in Monday Playoff
The week’s best finish came on a Monday morning. Austin Smotherman won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in a sudden-death playoff, edging out Séamus Power, after wind at Port Royal Golf Course pushed the finish past Sunday. The official leaderboard shows Smotherman and Power tied at 16 under.
Three players sat two shots behind Power at 14 under: Taylor Moore, Ben Silverman and Corey Conners. When the wind was up, almost nothing separated the top of the board. Power gets the toughest break of the bunch. He finished a single shot short and then lost in the extra session.
If you’re curious what Smotherman had in the bag, Golf.com has his WITB breakdown. He leaned on a “mixed bag of tools” to handle the wind, and that’s the part I’d pay attention to if you play coastal courses. In the wind, the clubs you can hit low and control matter more than the ones with the biggest numbers on the box. I’ll leave the full list to the WITB, but read it before you start tinkering with your long irons and hybrids this fall.
BMW Ladies Championship: Yuri Yoshida Holds Off Hye-Jin Choi and Haeran Ryu
Yuri Yoshida won the LPGA Tour’s BMW Ladies Championship at 17 under par, one stroke clear of Hye-Jin Choi and Haeran Ryu, who tied for second at 16 under. With two players one shot back, Yoshida had to keep making birdies down the stretch. Anything less and it’s a playoff.
The chase pack stayed close. Minsol Kim and Hyo Joo Kim tied for fourth at 15 under, so four players finished within two shots of the winner. Scores in the high teens suggest the course was gettable, and the players who won it were the ones who kept pace on the greens.
DP World Tour Genesis Championship: Yuto Katsuragawa Wins by Two
On the DP World Tour, Yuto Katsuragawa took the Genesis Championship at 13 under par. Frederic LaCroix and Martin Couvra tied for second at 11 under, two shots back, and Filippo Celli and Jorge Campillo shared fourth at 10 under.
Two strokes was the biggest winning margin of the week across the four tours, so it was a clean result for Katsuragawa. The T4 pair finished three back. Nobody in that group ran away with it, but nobody caught him either.
PGA Tour Champions Stifel Charity Classic: Rory Sabbatini Edges Darren Clarke
On PGA Tour Champions, Rory Sabbatini won the Stifel Charity Classic at 14 under, one stroke ahead of Darren Clarke at 13 under. Steven Alker, Mario Tiziani and Henrik Stenson tied for third at 12 under, two back.
That’s a lot of big names stacked behind the winner. Clarke was closest, but Sabbatini held on by a stroke. With three more players at 12 under, he couldn’t coast on the way in.
Golf News This Week
Mexico Open Odds Lead With Wyndham Clark
Looking ahead, Wyndham Clark is the betting favorite at the 2026 VidantaWorld Mexico Open. The two-time U.S. Open champion, who won the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, tops the odds to start the week. A favorite is never a lock, as Bermuda just showed, but his major record explains why oddsmakers put him first.
Bermuda Purse and Playoff Viewing Details
If you want the money side of Smotherman’s win, Golf.com has the full purse and payout breakdown, including the winner’s share. It also posted the Monday TV and streaming details for the sudden-death finish, which is handy whenever a playoff spills into Monday.
Equipment and Industry Notes
A few gear items caught my eye this week.
Dream Putt from Jeffrey David Golf, LLC has opened Early Access for Meta Quest 3 and 3S, bringing a putting game to virtual reality. I haven’t tested it, so no verdict yet. A putting trainer lives or dies on how well it matches real green speeds and reads, and I’d want to see that before recommending it. If I get time with it, I’ll report back.
For the classic-club crowd, True Spec’s Retro Rebuild series reached Episode 4 with the Callaway Big Bertha driver. It starts by collecting baseline measurements, which is the right way to rebuild a club.
In industry news, VisionTroy named Eric Slack, CCM, PGA, strategic advisor for club development. He brings more than 25 years of private club leadership. Future Champions Golf expanded its partnership with the GPS Junior Tour in Thailand, creating pathways to the 2027 FCG Callaway World Championship and the inaugural FCG Global Games. And One More Roll Golf Media launched two new shows, “Different Lies” and “The Arena Game,” pairing PGA Professional Brendon Elliott with Division I golfer Bretton Mackiewicz.
What Golfers Are Talking About
Over on r/golf, the biggest thread of the week was about LIV Golf. A popular post points to court records showing LIV paid $15 million to retain executives before filing for bankruptcy. I’m only relaying the thread’s headline, so read the underlying records before drawing conclusions. People are clearly talking about it.
The feel-good story is a first-ever hole in one from a golfer who picked up the game a little over a year ago to lose weight. He’s down more than 100 pounds since May 2025, and the ace came from 110 yards with one bounce. Brilliant! The other thread worth a laugh asks what you’d do if your playing partner shows up with a leaf blower to find fall fairway lies. And if you want the full conversation, the Monday weekend recap thread is the place to start.
What to Watch Next
Four tours, four winners, and none of them won by more than two strokes. If you play in the wind, read Smotherman’s WITB before your next round. After that, keep an eye on the Mexico Open odds, where Wyndham Clark leads the market. More next week.
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