Port Royal Golf Course looks likely to bare its teeth this weekend with the weather forecast predicting high winds.

The course in Bermuda has proved the windiest stop on the PGA Tour since 2018, averaging 15.2mph, 1.4mph more than Grand Reserve Golf Club in Puerto Rico and that reputation only looks set to strengthen in the next few days.

Winds will average about 15mph with gusts into the low 20s today and tomorrow, with the forecast on Saturday suggesting 20-25mph sustained winds and 25-30mph gusts. There is also a 70 per cent chance of rain in the morning with scattered showers expected in the afternoon.

A 50 per cent chance of rain will increase to 80 per cent by the afternoon on Sunday, while winds crank up to 23-28mph with 30-35mph gusts.

Adam Schenk, last year’s winner, has shown that he can handle the gusty conditions, keeping the ball low for much of his final round, including playing a lay-up on the par-five 17th that never got above three feet from the ground as he defied the wind.

But the American is far from the only player at his best in testing conditions. Previous course form is always a good place to start when trying to identify golfers to watch and where better to start than with another former champion in Seamus Power.

A self-confessed lover of the island who has friends living here, Power won the tournament in 2022 and has finished eleventh, twelfth and 23rd in three other attempts.

But it is one of the PGA Tour’s young guns whom bookmakers make favourite to lift the trophy and pick up the $1.08 million first prize.

Ben James is aged just 23 and won his place on tour this year by finishing top of the PGA Tour University rankings. He is also in the possibly the best form of any player on the tour after finishing third, second and fifth in his last three starts.

Corey Conners, Austin Smotherman, Rasmus Hojgaard, Eric Cole, Andrew Novak and Ben Kohles join James as the only players in the field in the top 100 of the official golf world rankings, and at least a few of them look likely to feature on the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon.

Bermuda’s local Filipino population could crown one of their own as champion, with Rico Hoey teeing off. Hoey was born in Manila before moving to California as a child and has the ability to stake a claim here, with two top-25 finishes in the past two years suggesting he does not have to find too much to feature at the sharp end.

The youngest player in the field will be amateur Miles Russell, who follows in the footsteps of local Oliver Betschart in competing at the age of 17.

Russell joined Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Brian Harman, Peter Uihlein, Noah Goodwin and Tracy Phillips as being the only two-times Amateur Junior Golf Association Player of the Year. He also finished tied for 39th at this year’s US Open.

Also among the amateurs is Austin Lemieux, son of national hockey legend Mario Lemieux.