This Thursday, a new edition of the Battlefield Bermuda Championship, the penultimate tournament of the season on the PGA Tour, began at the Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda. In other words, it is one of the two remaining opportunities for players who have not yet secured their playing rights for 2026 or for those seeking a place in the first two designated events of next year.
Among the leaders is Canada’s Adam Hadwin (-6), who had a very good first round with seven birdies and one bogey to take the sole lead in the standings with a score of 65. The golfer, who trained at the University of Louisville, secured his card for 2025 by finishing in the top 70 overall last year. But at the start of this week, he is ranked 147th in the FedEx Fall, so he needs a great result in this tournament and the next to maintain his status on the circuit, something he has held since his arrival more than a decade ago.
“I have nothing to lose this week. Basically, I have to win or finish in the top two this week or next week,” he said after finishing his round. “I’ve been looking for consistency for five or six years and I still haven’t found it,” he acknowledged. Although today he seems to have found something, especially with his irons, among the best on the greens in regulation, recovering… and with the putter in his hands.
In a similar situation is Japan’s Takumi Kanaya (-5), one stroke behind the leader, whose card was only valid for 2025 after finishing in the top five and tied at the qualifying school. Ranked 120th overall, staying on top this week could be enough to “revalidate” his rights. This is also the goal of Braden Thornberry (-5), who was unable to complete his round today due to lack of light and who, after jumping to the top division of American golf from the Korn Ferry Tour, has not had his best year (only seven cuts made out of 23 tournaments, with a single top 10 finish).
The three of them lead a field of just over 40 players under par, with several rounds still to be completed tomorrow before the second 18 holes of the tournament are played. The most prominent European is Norway’s Kris Ventura (-3), in the top 10, who scored a great eagle by holing out from off the green on the 17th to move one stroke ahead of Thorbjorn Olesen (-2), Seamus Power (-2), Jesper Svensson (-2), and Jeremy Paul (-2), all of whom are in the same fight with three rounds and the RSM Classic at Sea Island Golf Club ahead of them to try to achieve it.
