2022 Bermuda Championship scores: Seamus Power, Ben Griffin share Round 3 lead at Port Royal

detlef32 — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 01:07:13 +0000

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Seamus Power knows the wind and Port Royal well enough to realize he’d better do his scoring early. He did just that Saturday, added a few birdies late and had another 6-under 65 to share the lead with Ben Griffin in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Power holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the daunting par-3 16th and made a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 17th to atone for his lone mistake, a double bogey on the par-3 13th.

Griffin followed the same script in a strong wind with three birdies to open his round. He kept his approach under the wind on the 18th to 5 feet for birdie and a 66.

They were at 18-under 195, two shots clear of Kevin Yu (67) and Aaron Baddeley (68).

Power at No. 48 is the highest-ranked player at Port Royal.

The 35-year-old Irishman is no stranger to windy conditions and has played the Bermuda Championship the last few years.

“I knew I had to get birdies before 11,” Power said.

He made four in a row early and was 6 under for the day until a missed green and bad chips led to a double bogey on the 13th.

“One mistake. The wind drifted it a crazy amount,” Power said. “But I was able to hang in there and it puts me in a good spot going to tomorrow.”

The 16th is the toughest tee because the green is just right of the ocean and the wind was ripping from left to right.

“I don’t know how comfortable you get when you get to 16 and you’re having to aim your ball in the ocean,” Power said with a laugh. The shot finished pin-high on the right side of the green to a left flag, and the putt crept in the low side of the hole.

Power has one PGA Tour victory, the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky last year. He would love nothing more than a win for a strong early start to the PGA Tour and to assure his spot in the Masters.

For Griffin, even more as at stake.

He gave up on the game a few years ago and was working as a loan mortgage officer when he was inspired playing in a member-guest, and the members put up money for him to Monday qualify into a Korn Ferry Tour event.

That was the start of baby steps — making it through Korn Ferry Tour qualifying, and then last year earning his full card onto the PGA Tour.

A victory Sunday comes with a two-year exemption.

“It’s been surreal really the last year and two months of just being comfortable on the golf course and just going out and trying to win,” Griffin said. “When you’re playing mini-tour events and you’re trying to grind for top 10 just to break even, just have enough money to maybe do a Monday qualifier, it’s not necessarily the easiest in terms.

“Now that I have this little bit of freedom, I can go out there and just try to win golf tournaments.”

Ben Crane, whose last win was in 2014, started the third round with a one-shot lead and stumbled down the closing stretch with four bogeys in a five-hole stretch before he birdied the last hole for a 73. He fell six shots behind.

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The strongest field early in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season is followed by the weakest as the 2022 Bermuda Championship welcomes an eclectic bunch to Port Royal Golf Course. With none of the game’s elites set to tee it up this week, a wide-open affair is likely to be in store on this Robert Trent Jones design as bombers and plodders alike have gotten around this property in an effective manner in years past.

Despite the relative lack of star power traveling to Bermuda, the stakes remain the same. The Bermuda Championship will be receiving standalone status for the 2022-23 season, so the winner will be afforded all the riches of a run-of-the-mill PGA Tour stop including 500 FedEx Cup points, major championship exemptions and job security for the foreseeable future.

Simply put, a win this week could prove to be life-changing. Rookies, DP World Tour regulars, journeymen, veterans and everyone in between will look to give it their all in hopes of securing playing rights for the next few years. Headlined by Denny McCarthy, other PGA Tour staples planning to tee it up in Bermuda include Seamus Power, Mark Hubbard, Patrick Rodgers and even 56-year-old John Daly.

Let’s take a closer look at this week’s 2022 Bermuda Championship with odds provided via Caesars Sportsbook.

Event Information

Event: 2022 Bermuda Championship | Dates: Oct. 27-30
Location: Port Royal Golf Course — Southhampton, Bermuda
Par: 71 | Yardage: 6,828 | Purse: $6,500,000

2022 Bermuda Championship field, odds

Denny McCarthy (16-1): After nearly playing his way into the Tour Championship in 2021-22, McCarthy has struggled out of the gate. He has only garnered one top-25 result in four starts, but the way in which he finished T37 last week at The CJ Cup may be encouraging. Ranking inside the top half of each tee-to-green metric at Congaree, it was surprisingly the putter which let the 29-year-old down. In three prior appearances at the Bermuda Championship, he has acquitted himself nicely with finishes of T15-T4-T39.
Thomas Detry (18-1): Capturing some PGA Tour status via the Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs, Detry has taken full advantage of his playing opportunities. Finishing T12 at the Fortinet Championship and T9 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, the Belgian fell off his rapid pace just a touch at the Shriners Children’s Open. After a couple weeks of rest, Detry should be able to threaten at Port Royal GC where he finished T22 a season ago.
Seamus Power (22-1)
Mark Hubbard (22-1): The 33-year-old was just a few scrappy moments away from claiming the Sanderson Farms Championship in his second start of the season. Falling short in Jackson, Mississippi, Hubbard has since continued to play well with finishes of T28 and a solo 66th in his last two outings. Port Royal GC has been a nice landing spot for short hitters like Brendon Todd and Brian Gay in recent years, and may prove to be the same for Hubbard.
Adrian Meronk (22-1)
Nick Hardy (25-1): In his second season on the PGA Tour, Hardy has looked much more comfortable than at any point during his rookie campaign. The catalyst for the quick start is simple: iron play. The former Illinois standout leads this Bermuda Championship field in both strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained approach over the last two months. If able to find some form on and around the green, Hardy will contend for his first win on the PGA Tour.
Aaron Rai (25-1)
Patrick Rodgers (28-1)
Justin Lower (28-1): The man who made bogey on the 72nd hole of the Wyndham Championship to fall out of the top 125 is proving his second chance was warranted. Lower leads this field over the last two months in total strokes gained, and was in with a chance at the Fortinet Championship before stumbling on the final day. That shortcoming hasn’t deterred the 33-year-old, though, as he since registered finishes of T45 and T20. With a T17 finish at last season’s Bermuda Championship, all signs point to Lower being a factor.
S.H. Kim (30-1)

2022 Bermuda Championship expert picks

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Port – Golfing Agency

2022 Bermuda Championship scores: Seamus Power, Ben Griffin share Round 3 lead at Port Royal

2022 Bermuda Championship predictions, expert picks, odds, field ranking, best bets at Port Royal Golf Course

Event Information

2022 Bermuda Championship field, odds

2022 Bermuda Championship expert picks