Power finish for Seamus in Palm Springs; Phelan comes up short in Mexico
Palm Springs — Seamus Power birdied five holes in a row before closing with a par to post a second round 66 and move to within eight shots of the lead heading into today's third round of the Career Builder Challenge at PGA West.
The West Waterford man (30) is tied for 36th on eight-under-par on eight-under after a bogey-free, six-under-par effort on the Nicklaus Tournament Course, where he birdied his 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes at La Quinta Country Club.
Power started his day on the back nine and while he birdied the 11th, he then reeled off 10 pars in a row before his spectacular finish.
The Munster player will be keen to pick up some FedEx Cup points this week after a slow start to the 2017-18 campaign having made just three of the first six cuts since squeaking through the Web.com Tour Playoffs after dropping out of the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings in the last event of the regular season.
Andrew Landry, who was paired with Shane Lowry in the final group in the 2016 US Open at Oakmont, holds the 36-hole lead after shooting 63 at La Quinta Country Club and 65 at PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course.
World No 3 Jon Rahm lurks just one shot back at both players head to the tough Stadium Course, where Power shot a 70 on day one.
“I know it’s supposed to be blowing tomorrow, but I think I have really good control of my golf ball right now, so it shouldn’t be too big of an issue,” said Landry, who was tied for second behind Lowry alongside Dustin Johnson at Oakmont but shot 78 to fade to 15th and then lost his PGA Tour card before regaining it thanks to a Web.com win last year.
Rahm added a 67 to his first-round 62 at La Quinta while tournament ambassador Mickelson shot a four-under 68 on Friday to sit on the projected cut line at six-under heading to the Stadium Course today
Power will be hoping to make another big move up the leaderboard — he rose 52 places on Friday — as he plays the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
Phelan misses out in Mexico
Kevin Phelan missed out on conditional status as Eric Onesi clinched a wire-to-wire win in the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Qualifying Tournament-Mexico.
With only the winner gaining full playing privileges and the top-10 remaining finishers exempt for the first half of the season, the Waterford man needed a 63 on the final day just to earn conditional status for the top 35.
But he shot 71 instead and tied for 75th on four-over as Onesi added a 65 to rounds of 64, 66 and 70 to win the full exemption by four shots on 23-under-par from Nahum Mendoza III at Estrella del Mar Golf & Beach Resort in Mazatlan.
Former East of Ireland winner Cian Curley will try his luck in the PTLA Qualifying Tournament-Colombia in Bogota from Tuesday next.
