The PGA Tour returned this week, kind of, which means Par Talk is also back to its regularly scheduled programming as we gear up for four straight weeks of action to close out the Fall Swing.
The Butterfield Bermuda Championship is sneakily one of the most entertaining events of the fall, with players competing for status on an island in some of the windiest conditions they’ll ever play in. Unfortunately, the PGA Tour deemed the wind on Sunday and Monday to be too much and cut the event to 54 holes.
There were eight players within three shots of the lead heading into the final round, but ultimately, the Tour let 54-hole co-leaders Austin Smotherman and Seamus Power duel it out in a Monday playoff at Port Royal.
As for the biggest news out of the golf world from the past week, it involves bankruptcy, Cameron Young, and his signature on an agreement to join LIV Golf years ago.
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Cameron Young was open about having interest in potentially joining LIV Golf during its inaugural season in 2022. The American openly stated at that year’s Tour Championship in Atlanta that he was interested in making the jump to the then Saudi-backed circuit.
Recently revealed court documents revealed that Young’s interest in a move wasn’t just a thought he was tossing around in his brain, but one he took legitimate action on.
As LIV Golf is going through proceedings after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, documents revealed that the circuit paid $15.6 million in retention payments to executives before filing. Not lost in the shuffle, which showed that LIV CEO Scott O’Neil received a retention of more than $6 million, was Young previously signing a document of intent to join LIV following the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews.
The 2022 Open Championship, while a classic finish with Cameron Smith edging out Rory McIlroy, was already remembered as ‘The One With The LIV Distraction,’ but even more so now.
Smith joined LIV shortly after hoisting the Claret Jug, and with Young signing his intent dated July 24, one week after the final round, he was ready to follow suit.
The speculation about Young jumping ship from the PGA Tour continued to gain steam for another four weeks before he ultimately grew tired of the questions and shared he had decided to stay on the Tour following the final round of the 2022 Tour Championship.
Young was ranked 17th in the world at the time with zero wins on Tour to his name. Since then, he’s moved up to No. 4 in the world, won three times, including the 2026 Players, and has represented the United States at both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
The PGA Tour was scrambling on Monday. Pun absolutely intended.
With wind gusts over 50 mph coupled with rain on Sunday, the Tour was hopeful for a Monday finish, and while it got one, it was about as unique as they come.
With the weather an issue again on Monday, the final round was scrapped, and Smotherman and Power went to the Par 3 16th for a playoff to determine a winner. Then they did it again, and again.
The pair shared pars on the first and second times around playing the 16th, the staff then moved the pin placement, and Smotherman’s third par in a row was enough to get the job done after Power couldn’t get up and down from an awkward spot in the rough.
It wasn’t exactly the most exciting of finishes – players having to gut their way through 18 holes of pure hell in the wind certainly would have been – but when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, and another event starts in less than four days’ time, the Tour wasn’t exactly left with another choice.
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As for Smotherman, that’s two wins in his last two starts after winning the Bank of Utah Championship at the beginning of October. For a player who had just two Top 25 finishes dating back to May, that’s a big-time run for the 32-year-old.
Oh, Vidanta Vallarta, how we’ve missed you.
The 2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, which was held in February, was one of those events that the golf sickos out there may never forget, and finally, after 20 months of waiting, we are back.
If, for whatever reason, you forgot one of the greatest finishes we may ever see, let’s take a look back at what went down early last year.
Aldrich Potgieter, the South African whose superpower is being one of the longest hitters in the game, found himself in a playoff with Brian Campbell, who finished 161st out of 162 players in average driving distance this season.
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The sudden-death playoff was held on the Par 5 18th hole, so advantage Potgieter. The two each made pars the first time around, and then came the tee shot heard ’round the world.
Campbell ended up hitting the block of all blocks off the tee, with his ball entering what is a legitimate jungle guarding the right side of the fairway. His ball should have disappeared, and it did for a brief moment, before jumping back into play and into the right rough.
Potgieter followed up Campbell’s tee shot by hitting a 321-yard rocket into the fairway, leaving him 218 yards to the hole, while Campbell had 311 to the pin. Despite the almost 100-yard difference, Campbell was the one who made birdie while Potgieter missed a six-footer to extend the playoff.
It was cinema, made practically no sense, and was a win for all short hitters around the globe.
Campbell and Potgieter are in the field this week.