Power beats weather to roar into contention with sensational 64 in Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Seamus Power. Picture USGA
Seamus Power looked determined to make amends for last year’s weekend reverse when he shrugged off “Irish” weather and fired a seven-under 64 to move to within two shots of the lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The West Waterford man opened with a brace of 64s to set a 36-hole scoring record and forge a five-shot lead last year.
But after closing with disappointing rounds of 75 and 72 to finish ninth 12 months ago, he defied wind, rain and swing problems and made an eagle, six birdies and just one bogey in a best-of-the-day 64 on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
Seeking his third PGA Tour win, he leapt from 79th to tied sixth on seven-under and lay just two strokes behind American Kurt Kitayama, who shot a two-under 68 at Pebble Beach to lead by one stroke from Keith Mitchell, Brandon Wu, Joseph Bramlett and overnight leader Hank Lebioda on nine-under-par.
“I had an interesting day,” confessed Power, who dug deep in high winds in the middle of his round despite not having his A game.
“I didn't play particularly well, but I scored very well. It's something I kind of pride myself on.
“Made some good putts, hung in there when I wasn't hitting a lot of great shots. So all in all I’m very pleased, but I would like to see a little better ball striking, so I'll go work on that now for a while.”
Power reeled off four birdies in a row from the fourth to get his round going, then followed a bogey at the short 11th, where he was bunkered, with a birdie at the par-five 12th.
He was inside the top-30 at that stage, but he made a massive leap up the leaderboard when he hit a 290-yard drive followed by a 213-yard cut four-iron to 30 feet at the 500-yard 16th and drained the putt for eagle before rolling in a 25-footer for another birdie at the 18th.
“The first five, six holes kind of rainy and the ball just wasn't going anywhere,” the Tooraneena man explained. “Not much wind. Then we got to the turn and then, for like an hour, hour and a half it really blew like pretty strongly there for a while. The last few holes were very pleasant.
“So it was one of those days like back home in Ireland where you get a lot of seasons in one day.
“It's tough because the course was playing long. Even when you get opportunities in the fairway, the greens, because of the rain, are soft. So trying to keep the ball close to the hole can be challenging.
“But, yeah, I was able to make some putts to cover up some of the mistakes. So it was a fun, adventurous day, but hopefully a little more straightforward tomorrow.”
Power can now look forward to two rounds at Pebble Beach and he believes wet and windy weather gives him an edge.
“I think it does,” said the world number 28, who now lives in Las Vegas. “You just kind of learn just to get on with it, to be honest.
“It's out there; it's raining; you have no control over it whatsoever. So you might as well just do what you can. Keep your hands dry and kind of get stuck in.
“I think that's what we learned growing up. We play in a lot of conditions like that.
“I don't know that we like it any better than anyone else; it's just we're just used to it and you learn some little tricks and techniques to keep yourself dry.”
As for the kinks in his game, he was not overly concerned.
“Just a couple of misses,” he said. “I know kind of what's happening. It's just tough to fix out there on the course.
“I'll go clean up some of those little simple things. But I love Pebble Beach. Obviously getting to play tomorrow, I think the forecast is pretty good.
“It's one of those things you kind of grow up dreaming about, so I'm really looking forward to it.”
As it turned out, third-round tee times were brought forward one hour due to a forecast for high winds.
As for the Pro-Am, a 63 left Power and Gerry McManus tied 28th on 11-under, ten strokes off the lead, while Dermot Desmond and Thomas Detry are 58th on eight-under after a second-round 66.
