Professional golfers usually only have minutes to prepare for a sudden death playoff. If they’re lucky, they might sneak in a small bucket on the range – but often there’s only enough time for an energy bar and a quick hug from a loved one.
But for Austin Smotherman and Seamus Power, which was decidedly not the case. Smotherman and Power finished the third round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on Saturday tied atop the leaderboard at 16 under – a position they will remain in for the next one. . . oh, let’s call it 38 hours or more It’s because when the field returned to Port Royal for the last time on Sunday, the players encountered quality conditions “Twister”, with flag winds that were blowing up to 40 mph.
Unplayable? The Tour thought so, making the decision cancel the final round and trot Smotherman and Power back out Monday morning for a sudden death playoff to decide the champion. Smotherman spent his Sunday trying to stay busy on the island, but that’s easier said than done when you’ve got a PGA Tour title hanging in the balance.
“Got to sleep, ordered some breakfast in the room,” Smotherman said Monday. “Fortunately, some football was in yesterday. Went to town, went and had lunch in an Irish pub. So I just walked around the hotel with our thumbs. I called my family probably five different times.”
Smotherman said he slept “OK” Sunday night through Monday. He left his hotel at 7 am for the 8 am playoff, leaving time only for a “short modified warm-up”.
Smotherman’s normal routine was out of the question because (1) the format for the playoff required the duo to play the par-3 16th hole in repetition, which meant that they did not need to hit anything longer than a 7 or 8 iron, and (2) the wind in the players face on the range was so strong that it was almost meaningless to hit the balls. Smotherman said he hit a few wedges, but not much beyond that.
Recognizing the challenge, the Tour made an allowance, allowing players to warm up on the par-4 15th. “The rules committee provided both competitors with an option to hit a shot somewhat similar to what they are about to face on No. 16,” a Tour spokesman said. GOLF.
“Similar wind directions,” Smotherman said after the playoffs. “And we had the GCQuad (launch monitor) around, which was able to see what some numbers were doing. The wind on the range was tough, I’m glad we didn’t play straight into the breeze on 16 today, which would have been wild, but off the left it was manageable.”
The rules do not typically allow players to practice on the course in advance of a playoff, but, the spokesman for the Tour said, it is not yet heard, citing the Corales Puntacana Championship, the CJ Cup at Byron Nelson and the Charles Schwab Cup as three Tour-run events where pre-playoff representatives were allowed. Of those sites, the spokesman said: “It was more convenient to hit the balls in other parts of the course rather than the range which could be located further away.”
For Smotherman, the practice paid off. With the wind blowing strongly from the water, the tee shot on the 16th called for bravery: throw the ball to the edge of the cliff and trust that it will return. “It’s one you have to be in your right mind to try to hit in the water,” Smotherman said. “I told Zak (Williamson, his caddie) that he was trying to hit the cameraman on the side behind the side of the green and you saw that the ball ended up on the right side. That was how he felt disconnected and real.”
With his first tee ball, an 8-iron from 178 yards, Smotherman missed the right green, but was able to get up and down to match Power’s par. With his second tee shot — same club, same distance — Smotherman found the green but was 76 feet short of the hole. “Right to feel, walk in and just trust your abilities,” he said of the lag putt he hit at kick-in range. “There’s no practicing this morning or being comfortable, even throughout the week really having to put up this long.”
Power also made 3, sending both players back to the tee for the third time. But on this occasion, they faced a new pin and shorter yardage (152).
Smotherman’s club choice: 8-iron again.
“I feel like depending on how you try to turn the wind, you can get 170 from this to that back pin and I really didn’t want to have the chance to go super deep because if I got into the wind and the wind shifts just for a second, it becomes long right in a hurry if I hit especially one more club.
Good decision. He took his high brush, 16 feet left of the hole. From there, he two-putted for par. When Power narrowly missed and failed to get up and down, Smotherman had his second PGA Tour title in less than a month.
“It’s a fairy tale really now,” he said.
