The Punter's De-Brief: Smith wins wire-to-wire and Power bags the Bermudan bounty

• Impressive frontrunning display sees Smith win in style
• Green finishes second to cement Czech Masters link
• Seamus hangs on as nerves get to Ben in Bermuda

Having kicked off the Portugal Masters with an impressive nine-under-par 62 on Thursday afternoon to lead, pre-event 19.018/1 second favourite, Jordan Smith, maintained his advantage through 36 and 54 holes - heading into Sunday's final round with a two-stroke lead over 46.045/1 chance, Gavin Green, after another 62 on Saturday!

Green was matched at a low of 2.3411/8 when he got to within one of the lead with a birdie at the second but after both the leaders had birdied the fourth, Smith went two clear again with an eagle at the par five fifth.

Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen got to within five of Smith and three of Green when he birdied the 10th but when the two leaders both birdied the tough ninth, the hopes of anyone else getting involved were dashed.

Smith birdied the 10th to move three clear and when he made this terrific up-and-down for par after taking a penalty drop after a poor drive at 11, the result was never really in doubt.

A recovery shot to remember @Jsmithgolf makes par from the dirt to maintain his three-shot lead.#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/wkSXKFvFAE

? DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 30, 2022

After Smith had eased four clear with a birdie at the par five 12th, Green closed the gap back to three with a lengthy birdie at the par three 13th but his challenge faltered badly soon after when he drove into the water off the tee on 14.

Smith went on to win by three and his winning total of 30-under-par is one better than the DP World Tour record, set by Ernie Els at the 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic, but due to preferred lies his tally doesn't go into the record books.

It was Jordan's second DP World Tour success and his first since 2017.

Over at the Bermuda Championship on the PGA Tour, pre-event 27.026/1 chance, Seamus Power, and 130.0129/1 shot, Ben Griffin, began the fourth and final round tied for the lead and two clear of the rest, and it very soon developed into another two-man race.

Griffin appeared to assumed command after back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 saw him go two clear and he was matched at a low of 1.364/11 but that was as good as it got for the 26-year-old.

As highlighted in the In-Play Blog yesterday, Griffin nearly gave up the pro game last year so him winning would have been a remarkable story but nerves clearly got to him once he hit the front and he bogeyed the next four holes before double-bogeying the tough par three 16th.

With Griffin floundering, Power was left in front, but he was far from impressive.

The Irishman has never been convincing in-contention and he bogeyed three of the last five holes but birdies at 14 and 17 were enough to see him cling on to win by one over Thomas Detry who had birdied the last two holes.

This was Power's second success on the PGA Tour but both wins have come thanks to a bit of help and he looks like one to take on in-the-mix going forward.

JT Poston was matched at just 1.021/50 before messing up late on at the Barbasol Championship last year (Power beat him in a playoff) and Power was aided here by the fact that his four closest challengers on Sunday all failed to break 70.

Kevin Yu, who began the day trailing two, matched Power's one-under-par 70 but he was never a threat having played the first seven holes in two-over par and my 280.0279/1 Find Me a 100 Winner pick, Brian Gay, who was matched at a low of 12.523/2, was very disappointing.

Gay had begun the day trailing by three but after three 66s, but he shot 73 on Sunday to fall outside the top-ten.

Czech form comes to the fore in Portugal

Jordan Smith cemented the very obvious link between Doha and Dom Pedro as he was sixth on debut at the Qatar Masters back in 2017 but a number of players contended in Portugal this year that have played well at the Albatross Golf Resort - the host course for the Czech Masters.

Last year's Portugal Masters winner, Thomas Pieters, has won the Czech Masters twice and the likes of Padraig Harrington, Tommy Fleetwood, Bradley Dredge, Eddie Pepperell, Gavin Green, and Tom Lewis all had form at both venues prior to this year's editions and the link looks stronger again now.

In-contention this year in Portugal, Tapio Pulkkanen has finished third and second in the last two editions of the Czech Masters and Green, who led the Czech Masters by three with a round to go in August, has really cemented the link so that's something to look out for next year.

The DP World Tour is having a break this week before next week's limited field event - the Nedbank Challenge - so we've just one event to concentrate on this week - the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico where Viktor Hovland will be attempting to win the tournament for a third year-in-a-row.

I'll be back later today or tomorrow with the preview.

*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter