Power beats Bear Trap but stumbles at finish

Seamus Power had a rollercoaster day but still continued his positive progress in the second round of the Web.com Tour’s Q-School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida last night.

The 27-year old West Waterford star, who is bidding for a minimum Top-45 finish and a strong card for the PGA Tour’s second tier circuit next year, shot a one under par 70 on the tough Champions Course at PGA National to slip five places to tied 11th on five under par. Scores

Considering he was four under par for the day having already negotiated the dreaded Bear Trap, a 70 was about as bad a score as Power could have shot on the track that hosts the PGA Tour's Honda Classic.

But he at least managed a second successive sub-par score at Q-School and can look forward to chasing down the leaders over the next four days of the six-round test.

Starting on the back nine that’s infamous for the water-strewn, three-hole Bear Trap stretch from the 15th to the 17th, Power could not have asked for a better start. 

He birdied the 13th and the short 15th to get to two under and then followed a bogey at the short 17th with an eagle three at the 18th to turn in three under 33.

He had the leaders in his sights when he picked up another shot at the par-five third to get to eight under for the tournament.

But he then bogeyed the short fifth and double bogeyed the sixth, one of the toughest holes on the course, before following a birdie at the eighth with a frustrating bogey five at the tricky ninth.

He’s five strokes behind leader Rick Cochran, who shot a 67 on the Champions to lead by one from Ted Purdy and Dustin Bray on 10 under.

The higher Power finishes inside the top 45 in the 150-man field after six rounds — three on each course — more starts he is likely to get on the Web.com Tour next year.