Weather concerns have threatened the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, risking a 54-hole finish or Monday extension as Austin Smotherman chases his second PGA Tour title

The Butterfield Bermuda Championship could be extended into Monday as the tournament faces severe weather.

Austin Smotherman is seeking his second PGA Tour title after winning his first in his most recent start at the Bank of Utah Championship, and he carded a third-round 66 in harsh wind conditions. It comes as Vanessa Trump was seen next to Tiger Woods as she announced she's cancer-free.

Players in Bermuda will receive word early Sunday morning about whether or when they should return to the course for the final round. Still, according to the broadcast, many more factors are at play in the referees' decisions.

The PGA Tour is closely monitoring a severe weather forecast for Sunday and Monday that may force them to cut the tournament short or extend the final round into Monday.

While official tour text messages sent to the field suggested that play could be extended into Monday to complete all 72 holes, the actual forecast makes a Monday finish highly unlikely.

According to chief referee Stephen Cox, Monday's weather looks just as bad as Sunday's, meaning there is a very real possibility that tournament regulations will force officials to conclude the event after 54 holes.

Officials are purposely taking a reactive approach rather than a proactive one. They want to avoid a situation where they rush to get extra holes in, leaving some players stranded mid-round while others finish, which would jeopardize the fairness and integrity of the competition.

Because of this, the immediate goal was to complete 54 holes safely on Saturday, and it was achieved.

At 4:00 p.m., the PGA Tour Rules Committee will review the latest forecasts to determine Sunday's strategy. High winds typically peak in the afternoon, so officials may shift Sunday's tee times earlier in the morning to take advantage of a safer weather window.

The greens committees have already begun progressively slowing green speeds throughout the week to ensure the course remains playable when heavy wind gusts arrive.

Asked how hard it is to concentrate on the present when the future of the tournament is uncertain, co-leader Smotherman said it’s been the main point of the tournament.

“It's just been the talk, the talk of everybody all week, what Sunday's forecast has been,” said Smotherman after the third round.

“I don't think it's gotten any better. You know, take care of step one, making the cut. Go get into contention on Saturday and see what happens. But here we are actually doing that. That was the goal start of the week.

"Now we get to rest a little bit tonight, and whatever tomorrow brings, we'll be ready. But staying in the present was not necessarily easy because it's Saturday, feeling like a Sunday's an odd feeling as well.”