Irishman has chance to win on Sunday and secure his card for another two years with victory

Séamus Power stayed in the hunt in Bermuda in search of his first PGA Tour victory in four years after a third round of 67 left him tied for the lead with Austin Smotherman.

After previous rounds of 66 and 64, a four-under-par 67 was Power’s highest score of the week on paper but may be his most impressive as high winds made for tricky conditions at Port Royal Golf Course.

The Irishman made a fast start to his round with birdies at the first and third holes after approaches to 11 feet and seven feet. All pars followed in until the 10th with another superb wedge to three feet for birdie.

A bogey followed at the 13th when he hit his approach over the green and failed to get up and down, but he bounced back immediately with a birdie at the 14th with a remarkable holeout from the fairway after finding trouble off the tee.

Power then birdied the par 5 17th after hitting a solid wood into the heart of the green and two-putting, before just leaving his birdie putt short on 18 to take the outright lead.

Power and Smotherman are on 16 under, with Taylor Moore, Corey Conners and Ben Silverman on 14 under, while five players are on 13 under.

“It was tough. I think the toughest part was the contrast from the first two days, which were as easy as I’ve ever seen the course playing,” said Power.

“All of a sudden there were shots out there that were unrecognisable. So it was just trying to reset the goals and hitting simpler shots.”

On the holeout on 14 he said: “That was obviously a huge bonus. It’s a part of my game I’ve worked on in the couple of weeks leading up to this, so it was nice to see it pay off there. Hearing the cheer was great and such a bonus to get momentum back on my side.”

The 39-year-old expects conditions to be tough tomorrow.

“With the wind up again, it’s just going to be more of the same. Don’t try to take on too much and just hang in there,” he said.

Power won the event in 2022, his previous victory on the PGA Tour, and has been showing form recently with a tied seventh placing at Biltmore Championship Asheville and a tied 21st finish at the Bank of Utah Championship.

A good week for Power in Bermuda could be crucial in keeping his PGA Tour card for next year. Currently 103rd in the FedEx Cup standings, the top 100 players at the end of FedEx Cup Fall keep a fully exempt card. Players finishing 101 to 150 earn conditional status, giving them limited start opportunities. A high finish could ensure he finishes in the top 100, while winning the event would come with an added bonus of a two-year exemption.