It was the penultimate event of the PGA Tour season, with next week’s RSM Classic being the final chance for players to earn their cards for the 2025 season by staying in the top 125 of the FedEx Cup standings.
Camilo Villegas is the defending champion in Bermuda but the 2024 crown went to Rafael Campos, who was on the verge of losing his tour card. Campos, 36, is the second Puerto Rican to win on the PGA Tour, joining Chi Chi Rodriguez. Campos earned $1.242 million for the win.
Take a look at some of the best photos from the PGA Tour’s 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
It’s a par 3, but it plays 235 yards. There’s plenty of bailout right, but the entire left side of the hole looks like it’s hanging on the edge of a cliff. The green is guarded by a couple of bunkers wrapping around the left side.
It’s the 16th hole at Port Royal Golf Club, the host venue for the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship, and it’s a true test of nerves and focus.
Seamus Power won the Bermuda event in 2022, and for him that week, the 16th shaped up quite nicely, as he circled a 2 on his card each of the first three days.
“I think a lot of that hole is just trust. Even yesterday in the practice round, you’re aiming, you’re pretty much aiming to the edge of the ocean and trying to hit a draw further into the ocean to hit the green,” he said ahead of this year’s event. “The wind, you’re so exposed there, the wind is whipping across. I think that’s the difficult part is just trusting that you actually need to start it that far left.
Alex Smalley plays a shot on the 16th hole during the third round of the 2021 Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
“I’ve played here enough and I’ve hit enough shots there to know that it will come back, but I think that’s the biggest thing that somewhere in your mind you’re worried it’s not going to come back, it’s going to end up in the hazard left.
“It’s very rare you see a ball actually end up left. You almost have to try and miss the green left to hit the green, it’s just that exposed and the ball just starts going sideways there.”
Power did bogey the 16th in the final round in 2022, but his record 28 birdies that week guided him to a one-shot victory over Thomas Detry.
“My mind wants to go back to the past and enjoy the memories and the good stuff that happened last year.”
A year ago, Camilo Villegas was mired in a slump, ranked No. 223 in the FedEx Cup standings and in danger of losing his job on the PGA Tour. Before flying to Mexico last November to compete in the World Wide Technology Championship, he prepped to go to second stage of PGA Tour Q-School, playing two practice rounds at the host course for his qualifier and spent time working on his yardage book ahead of trying to win back full status on the PGA Tour.
“But I wasn’t worried. I had my back against the wall and I don’t know why, I just wasn’t worried,” Villegas said recently.
He would go on to finish tied for second in Mexico and then fly to the western edge of Great Britain’s territory in the Atlantic Ocean where he’d notch his fifth Tour title at Port Royal Golf Course in Southhampton, Bermuda, and earn a much-appreciated two-year Tour exemption.
“Boom, it clicked. I played great (in Mexico), I fricking threw away my Tesoro yardage book for second stage of Q-School. I thought I was going to go to finals after that and then I go and win and no Q-School, so here we are,” Villegas said.
What was it that clicked for Villegas, 42, in that two-week fever dream when he rediscovered the old magic?
“I wish I knew, to be honest,” he said. “You know, I think that was very interesting because I gambled big time and I started working with Jose Campra from Argentina and he told me, ‘This is going to take a lot of time, this is going to be tough, I need you to be patient because there’s going to be times where you’re going to want to quit on me just because it is some drastic changes and you’ve been swinging the way you swing for a long time.’
“He’s a good friend. We played junior golf together, South American tournaments, great caddie, great teacher. And I believed in him, I trusted him and I was very patient throughout the year. We were doing a lot of things that didn’t make too much sense to me and then eventually they started clicking.”
Last September, during that test of his patience, he was competing at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Simmons Bank Open in Knoxville, Tennessee, and in the middle of breakfast Campra looked at him and said, “You know we’re going to play Augusta again?”
Villegas’s brain started working overtime running through the various scenarios of what needed to happen to get him back to the Masters. He processed his options and replied, “Bro, I guess the only way for me to play Augusta is to win.”
Campra’s response was perfect: “Well, I guess you know what you need to do?”
Villegas smiles a conspiratorial smile as he recalls that line and added, “I remember it like yesterday.”
He shot a 6-under 65 in the final round in Bermuda, finishing at 24-under 260 and clipping Alex Noren by two shots for his first victory in more than nine years, booking a trip back to the Masters thanks to his first win since the death of his 22-month-old daughter, Mia, from brain cancer in 2020. He dedicated the win to Mia and said, “I’ve got my little one up there watching.”
Camilo Villegas helps his son Mateo putt on No. 1 during the Par 3 Contest at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Network)
“Different wins are special for different reasons. It’s so hard. I mean, winning on the PGA Tour is almost a fluke, to be honest,” he said. “But after going through all those tears, the ups and downs, and then the family tragedy of losing my daughter, you kind of get shaken up, man. You freaking go and say like what are the real things in life? What are the more important things in life? And then I saw the support of everybody. (He had over 900+ text messages alone to respond to.) To be honest, the messages and the energy from everybody. I mean, when you see your peers pulling for you, that kind of got me emotional, and it was pretty touching.”
Villegas hasn’t been able to carry that good mojo into this season. His best result in 24 starts is a T-35 at the Masters and he has missed 13 of his last 15 cuts. To Villegas, it’s another test of his patience. He’s learned to weather the highs and lows during a career spanning two decades and knows that the status of his game can change as fast as the weather in Bermuda this week.
“At 22 when you win a golf tournament, you kind of keep pushing, pushing, pushing,” he said. “At 42, I feel like winning last year bought me time to keep working on my game. It’s kind of bit me in the (rear) a bit where I need to be a little bit stronger and keep going.”
But Villegas said he would slow down and take a moment at Port Royal, the shortest course on the PGA Tour at 6,828 yards, to soak in the memories of an inspirational win that made grown men cry.
“Usually, I’m trying to be in the present, trying to freaking focus on the job at hand. But I’m gonna say, ‘Screw it, man.’ My mind wants to go back to the past and enjoy the memories and the good stuff that happened last year there. Just gonna let it flow. When it’s time to play, I want to have a good week.”
YouTube sensations Wesley and George Bryan will play together for the first two rounds of this week’s 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour. This is the circuit’s second-to-last event of 2024, though there are a few silly-season events coming up like the Grant Thornton Invitational and Hero World Challenge.
Last year, Wesley and George were not paired together when tee times were released and there was some disappointing throughout the golf social media space. A week later, the Tour paired David and Max Ford together at the RSM Classic.
Wesley fired a not-so-subtle shot at the Tour on Twitter/X, saying, “Kudos to the PGA TOUR competitions and rules committee for absolutely nailing this Thu/Fri pairing! Also will make for an easy viewing experience for the parents!”
The purse in Bermuda is $6.9 million with $1.242 million going to the winner.
The PGA Tour is heading to Bermuda, and there are only two chances left for players to lock up their cards ahead of the 2025 season.
The 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship gets underway Thursday at Port Royal Golf Club, and it’s a place where numerous players hovering around 125th in the FedEx Cup standings are doing everything they can to stay above that number with only two events left in the season. The island nation in the Atlantic Ocean is small, but the stakes are enormous this week.
The purse at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship is $6.9 million with $1.242 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 500 FedEx Cup points.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s what you you need to know for the first round of the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. All times listed are ET.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
The Butterfield Bermuda Championship, the penultimate event for the PGA Tour in 2024, kicks off Thursday at Port Royal Golf Course. Another rank-and-file field has gathered in Southhampton, Bermuda, highlighted by Mackenzie Hughes, Lucas Glover, Seamus Power, Maverick McNealy and Daniel Berger.
Defending champion Camilo Villegas has made just five cuts across 24 starts so far this year, but maybe a trip back to the course where he captured his fifth Tour win will break his slump.
This week’s winner will go home with $1.242 million of the $6.9 million purse and 500 FedEx Cup points.
Now, let’s jump into our betting preview and discuss a few players we’re picking to contend in Bermuda.
Ryan Armour, Kevin Chappell and D.J. Trahan of the United States walk to the 16th green during the second round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course on November 10, 2023 in Southampton, Bermuda. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Things to keep in mind
Wind can play a major factor at this track, so pay attention to a potential wave advantage.
This is not a course players can dominate with their drivers. This is a plot-your-way-around type track. Think Harbour Town (RBC Heritage).
Scores can get low out here — Villegas won at 24 under. Let’s prioritize Strokes Gained: Approach and SG: Putting (Bermuda).
Course history
Course history at Port Royal Golf Course for the Bermuda Championship
-Includes average finish position and SG average since 2019
Picks to win the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship
Ben Griffin
Ben Griffin walks down the fairway on the 18th hole on the first day of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, August 15, 2024.
Best odds: 20/1 (+2000), DraftKings and FanDuel
Analysis: Griffin has been flirting with his first Tour win for more than a year now, and this seems like a great spot for him to get it. He’s coming off back-to-back top-25 finishes at the Zozo Championship and World Wide Technology Championship, and he has a T-3 finish at this event in 2022.
Justin Lower
Justin Lower of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship 2024 at El Cardonal at Diamante on November 09, 2024 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Best odds: 25/1 (+2500), several books
Analysis: Lower played some great golf last week but couldn’t quite catch Austin Eckroat. He finished in a tie for second. Now, he heads to a course he loves. In three starts at Port Royal, Lower has three top-20 finishes, including a tie for eighth at the end of 2022.
Patrick Rodgers
Patrick Rodgers of the United States plays his shot from the 16th tee during the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship 2024 at the Country Club of Jackson on October 04, 2024 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
Best odds: 30/1 (+3000), FanDuel and Caesars
Analysis: Rodgers has made 279 starts on the PGA Tour and hasn’t put a tally in the win column. Is this his week? Over the last month, Rodgers has tied for 11th at the Black Desert Championship and for 24th at the World Wide Technology Championship. In 2021, Rodgers finished solo fourth at Port Royal. A year later, he tied for third.
Vince Whaley
Vince Whaley hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Best odds: 55/1 (+5500), FanDuel and BetMGM
Analysis: Whaley has two T-16 finishes during the Tour’s fall season — Sanderson Farms Championship, Shriners Children’s Open — and has played well at Port Royal in the past. In 2023, he tied for eighth, and in 2021, he finished T-7.
Only two events are left in the PGA Tour in 2024, and this week, the Tour heads to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship gets underway Thursday in Bermuda, and it’s the penultimate official event of the year.
The Butterfield Bermuda is the seventh PGA Tour event of eight in the fall slate. After this week, the Tour heads to Georgia for the season-ending RSM Classic, the final chance for players to secure their spots in the top 125 for 2025.
From TV coverage to field information and prize money, here’s what you need to know about the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Butterfield Bermuda Championship course information
Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda, is a par-71 layout measuring 6,828 yards. Robert Trent Jones was the architect. This will be the sixth time the tournament is held at Port Royal.
The purse at the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship is $6.9 million with a first-place prize of $1.242 million. Five of the eight fall events have smaller purses from a year ago, but not the Butterfield Bermuda, which is up $400,000.
Butterfield Bermuda Championship TV coverage
Thursday, Nov. 14: 1-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Friday, Nov. 15: 1-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Saturday, Nov. 16: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Sunday, Nov. 17: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Most notably: there’s a new event in southern Utah and new name for the northern California tournament.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
The PGA Tour’s 2024 schedule has just four regular-season events left and then there’s the three-event FedEx Cup Playoffs. Then there’s a week off before the start of the fall schedule.
On Monday, the Tour officially released what it calls the FedEx Cup Fall for 2024, an eight-event swing for the back end of the year.
Most notably: there’s a new event in southern Utah and new name for the northern California tournament, as the Black Desert Championship joins the slate, while Fortinet’s title sponsorship of the event in Napa, California, has ended after three seasons. It was the Safeway Open prior to that.
There’s another week off before the Presidents Cup, and one more in early November before the final stretch.
The Tour states that: “The 2024 FedExCup Fall will finalize top 125 eligibility for the next season, providing exempt status for full-field events, as well as a spot in the Players Championship.”
2024 PGA Tour’s fall schedule
Sept. 12-15
Napa Valley Golf Championship
Sept. 26-29
Presidents Cup
Oct. 3-6
Sanderson Farms Championship
Oct. 10-13
Black Desert Championship
Oct. 17-20
Shriners Children’s Open
Oct. 24-27
Zozo Championship
Nov. 7-10
World Wide Technology Championship
Nov. 14-17
Butterfield Bermuda Championship
Nov. 21-24
RSM Classic
Then it’s the ‘silly season’:
Hero World Challenge, Dec. 5-8
Grant Thornton Invitational, Dec. 12-15
PNC Championship, Dec. 21-22
More from the Tour regarding the 2024 regular season:
“Players who finish No. 70 or better in the FedExCup standings through the 2024 Tour Championship are exempt for the 2025 season, with players ranked Nos. 1 through 50 also being exempt into all Signature Events for 2025. Players ranked No. 51 and beyond will carry their FedExCup Points from the Regular Season and first FedExCup Playoffs event into the FedExCup Fall and will continue to accumulate FedExCup Points to finalize eligibility for the 2025 season. As part of the Aon Next 10, players ranked Nos. 51-60 through the FedExCup Fall earn their way into two early-season 2025 Signature Events, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.”
The 41-year-old won the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton, Bermuda, on Sunday for his fifth PGA Tour win and first since the 2014 Wyndham Championship.
For his efforts, Villegas will take home the top prize of $1,170,000 while runner-up Alex Noren, who finished two shots behind Villegas at 22 under, earned $708,500. Third-place Matti Schmid earned $448,500 at 21 under.
Check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned at the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship, the penultimate event of the season.
The win is the fifth of his PGA Tour career and first since the 2014 Wyndham Championship.
Just over three years after his 22-month-old daughter died from cancer, Camilo Villegas won for the first time on the PGA Tour in more than nine years.
“My little one up there, she’s watching,” he said during a post-round interview on Golf Channel. “She’s where she needs to be after a long fight.”
The 41-year-old native of Colombia closed in 6-under 65 at Port Royal Golf Course on Sunday to clip Sweden’s Alex Noren by two strokes and win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Southampton, Bermuda, his first victory in 3,374 days at the 2014 Wyndham Championship.
Villegas, who once reached as high as No. 7 in the world and had dipped to No. 752 at the beginning of this month, had not recorded a top-10 finish since the 2021 Honda Classic before receiving a sponsor exemption into the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico and finishing T-2 to earn his way into this week’s event.
Prior to last week, he had planned to compete at second stage of Q-School, a tournament he hadn’t needed to play since 2004. Villegas had struggled with injuries, including shoulder surgeries, in recent years and ranked 223rd in the FedEx Cup standings before his strong performance in Mexico. In August, he did a tryout as a TV commentator on the Golf Channel.
“As a competitor, as a golfer, you never want to be done,” he told Golfweek ahead of his debut.
In February, he began working with instructor Jose Campra, who also caddies for pro Sebastian Munoz, on a major swing overhaul and Villegas had seen signs of progress.
“He told me when we started, you know what, I think you’re going to win again on the PGA Tour,” Villegas recalled. “I’m not sure I believed him, to be honest, but here we are.”
He added: “Nine years, where you kind of stop believing at times, but I never stopped waking up early and putting in the work.”
“She was always a little monkey around the gym, and I noticed she wasn’t being the little monkey she always was,” he said in June 2020. “I don’t know why, I just kind of got a bad feeling…You don’t need 10 doctors to tell you the good news.”
Since Mia’s death, he and wife Maria have devoted their energy into Mia’s Miracles, a foundation they formed to help other families dealing with pediatric cancer.
“My wife has been so busy with Mia’s Miracles – it’s become her mission in life – doing all this great stuff to change our kind of sad story to a positive to help others,” Villegas said last week.
The Villegas’s welcomed son Mateo in late 2021. Father and son dressed up for Halloween as police officers and mom was a bank robber. Young Mateo also wore a Spider-Man costume to a Halloween party, an homage to his father who frequently stretched out on all fours to study his putts near grass-level and earned the Spider-Man nickname.
Despite his prolonged slump, Villegas enjoyed the challenge of Spider-Man’s return, tattooing the words ‘positive energy’ on his right wrist and ‘attitude’ on his left.
“There’s a lot of things you can’t control in life, but I guess these two you can,” he said. “The game comes and bites you, so, I’ve been trying to let the game be the game and let my mind be calm and at peace. It’s been pretty good the last couple weeks, so let’s keep it going.”
On Sunday, the wind, which is the main defense at Port Royal, shifted directions and blew the hardest it had all week out of the west but it didn’t bother Villegas. He reeled off three birdies in a row starting at the third, including a 25-footer at No. 4. Noren, the overnight leader, kept pace with a birdie at No. 6 but made bogeys at nine and 10, his first since the fifth hole of the first round on Thursday and just his second and third bogeys all week. He shot 68 and finished second for the third time on Tour. Villegas clung to the lead, answering with birdies at 15 and 17, to finish with a 72-hole total of 24-under 260. It marked his fifth career Tour title and his ninth consecutive round in the 60s, the most in his career. He had played a total of 8,496 holes since his previous victory.
“I felt the energy building up,” he said. “To everyone who has supported me on my journey, I just want to say thanks.”
