Adam Schenk and Braden Thornberry will head out this Sunday to battle it out: with the wind at Port Royal… and with their future on the PGA Tour. Both lead with -12 after 54 holes in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship and top a leaderboard as tight as it is full of urgency.
Schenk, another chance to change his story
Schenk signed a bogey-free 67, a clean card on a day when the wind was once again judge and jury in Bermuda. Four birdies, infinite patience, and a sense that, finally, the game he’s been working on for months is coming together when he needs it most.
He’s not just any leader: he’s seeking his first PGA Tour victory in his 243rd start, after being runner-up twice and many weeks of good play without reward. He himself acknowledges that he has the added motivation of breaking into the top 100 of the FedExCup Fall to avoid Q-School; otherwise, the 2026 season will become much more complicated for him.
Thornberry earns his place with eagles
Alongside him, Braden Thornberry is experiencing a week that could change his career. The rookie closed with a 69 featuring three bogeys… and a crucial eagle on the par 5 17th, propelling him to the shared -12. It’s the first time he’s slept with the lead or co-lead after 54 holes on the PGA Tour.
Thornberry heads into this Sunday with little to lose and much to gain: only two top-25 finishes in 24 tournaments this year, but with the backing of having won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship 2024 to earn his card. Now he suddenly finds himself at the front of a PGA Tour event, on one of the most wind-exposed courses on the calendar, talking about “constant battle against shots that are sometimes almost impossible” and accepting that, with these gusts, some good shots will end up far from the hole.
A pack just one shot behind: Kanaya, Hadwin, McGreevy, and Phillips
Just one shot behind, at -11, a quartet promises a fight: Takumi Kanaya, Max McGreevy, Chandler Phillips, and Adam Hadwin.
Kanaya once again demonstrated why he is one of the great figures in Japanese golf. He delivered a bogey-free 66, one of the few clean cards of the day, and is once again in contention for victory after a season with several top-10s on the PGA Tour and eight wins on the Japan Golf Tour in his record.
Hadwin, leader after 36 holes, got tangled with four birdies and four bogeys for a 71 that knocked him off the throne but keeps him fully in the fight. The Canadian would be the third consecutive tournament winner to arrive this week in the 147th position of the FedEx Cup. Incredible story. McGreevy, on the other hand, plays with the added pressure of defending the 100th spot in the standings, that boundary that marks the line between security or the obligation to go through Q-School; Phillips completes the group from the same -11 mark.
A little further back is another Japanese player, Rikuya Hoshino, at -10 after signing a 67, opening the door to a possible Asian assault if the leaders falter in the gusts at Port Royal.
Seamus Power, the champion playing for his card
At -9, another dangerous block accumulates with names like Vince Whaley, Frankie Capan, Noah Goodwin… and especially Seamus Power, champion here in 2022. The Irishman posted a 67 with five birdies and just one bogey to climb into the top-10 and keep alive the dream of repeating victory… and, in the process, saving his card.
Power started the week in the 126th position of the FedExCup Fall, just outside even the range that grants at least conditional status (101-125). He needs a great Sunday in Bermuda and a strong finish at the RSM Classic to avoid being relegated to a very limited schedule next season. No one knows better than him what it means to win at Port Royal, and his experience with strong winds is a top-level asset heading into the final round.
Wind, urgency, and what’s at stake this Sunday
The week has been a true survival test. Images of players hitting pitching wedges that barely advanced a few metres in the gusts at Port Royal have gone around the world, a sign of the toughness of a tournament where the wind has given no respite.
Sunday promises more of the same. With the forecast of even stronger gusts, the PGA Tour has moved up the tee times and scheduled simultaneous starts from the 1st and 10th tees, between 7:15 and 9:16 local time, to try to avoid the worst of the storm.
It’s not just a title at stake in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. It’s the sixth tournament of the FedExCup Fall, the final stretch that determines who will have all the rights on the PGA Tour 2026 and who will fall short. The winner will take 500 points, two years of full exemption, and a ticket to events like The Sentry, The Players, and the PGA Championship. For many, it’s the last bullet before the RSM; for others, the opportunity to change the narrative of an entire career.
With Schenk seeking his first big Sunday, Thornberry trying to turn a rookie dream into reality, Kanaya and Hoshino representing the Japanese armada, and a former champion like Power lurking from the second line, the outcome at Port Royal promises to be unforgettable. And, as always in Bermuda, the last member of the party will be the wind.
