Smotherman and Power set for Sunday shootout at Bermuda Championship

Smotherman signed for a four-under 66 around Port Royal Golf Course, enough to move him to 16 under for the tournament, tied with Power, who managed a three-under 67.  Taylor Moore (66), Corey Conners and Ben Silverman (69) are two shots adrift on 14 under.

The American's eagle on the par-five seventh put him at five under for the round as he quickly made up ground. And then it was time to hold on down the stretch as the fierce wind began to show its teeth.

It was so strong on the par-three 16th that Smotherman's chip 7-iron to a front pin ended up going into a back bunker some 35 yards off target. He blasted out to the fairway just in front of the green and got that up-and-down for a bogey. Smotherman finished off his round of 66 with a 10-foot par save

"Once we turned, I felt like the wind just kept picking up," he recollected.

"No. 11 tee shot was kind of the first one where we were really like, 'Wow, it's on another level now. These next few holes aren't going to be what we're used to seeing these last couple days.' So, super simple shots in our mind."

Power was solid in the conditions, carding just one bogey along with five birdies to join Smotherman at the top. But even the Irishman admitted he was struggling in the adverse conditions.

"Today was proper wind, at least for me," he said.

"It's tough because you'd like to hit a low shot but you're so elevated or you're hitting off an upslope that it's tough to judge, it's tough to get the flight that you'd like to hit. So it's a different challenge than when we play in wind at home."