Seamus Power's risky business
Augusta National is arguably the most beautiful torture chamber in the world and Seamus Power plans to choose his moments very carefully indeed this week when he makes his second appearance in the Masters.
That he tied for 27th place on his debut 12 months ago after going his first 27 holes without making a birdie says it all about the difficulty of the test and the West Waterford man's determination.
The green jackets make subtle changes to the course each year, often prompting scribes to trot out the line about more sophisticated mice being challenged by more sophisticated mousetraps.
Power is certainly one of the more cerebral players in the field and even faced the prospect of losing a limb in an Augusta man-trap, he's looking forward to making those make-or-break decisions again this week.
"I loved it," he said of 2022. "It's one of those places where it just feels different as soon as you walk inside the gate. To be a part of it last year was amazing, and I just can't wait again this year."
He knows nobody expects him to contend this week even if he is ranked 35th in the world — higher than Zach Johnson was when he won in 2007 or Angel Cabrera in 2009.
But how many chances is he prepared to take to give himself an opportunity to contend?
Pádraig Harrington once remarked he could play within himself and still compete on most courses in the world, but at Augusta, he found he had to play "right on the edge."
Power feels similarly.
"I still feel like I'm the same boat as last year in that people probably aren't expecting that much of me," he said. "But I'm really feeling good about my game. And if I can do some of the right things, I can definitely improve on last year anyway.
"You just have to execute really good shots and have the courage to be aggressive enough. That's the balance you're trying to strike. You have to be courageous to make some birdies. Yes, you can hit it to 40 feet and try to two-putt, but you're obviously not making much ground doing that."
The good news for Power fans is he found something in his game at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, where he was knocked out by eventual winner Sam Burns.
After a few indifferent weeks, he was pleased to hit a draw down the middle of the par-five 12th all three days, knowing that his stock shot, starting it left down the waterline, was not the ideal shot.
"As soon as I see that, I know I'm very close," he said of his two-yard draw.
That right-to-left shape will be required this week — “On two, 10, the second shot on eight, tee shot on nine and obviously 13. So they’re a few of them."
But while knows there are birdies to be had, knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em is the key to playing a winning hand.
Last year, he bogeyed the par-three 12th on three days and was just two-under for the par fives.
The extended par-five 13th will leave him with a 220-230 yard approach this year and recreate the "momentous decision" Bobby Jones envisioned golfers facing.
Jack Nicklaus says there are six key shots, Power knows there are myriad shot selection decisions to be made and he'll be leaning heavily on caddie Simon Keelan in those make or break moments.
"You're standing on the top of the hill at the 15th and you're like, I've got this; I'm just going to get hit this five-wood on the green because it's into the wind. Perfect. And then mid-flight, all of a sudden, the ball airmails the green and goes into the water long, and you're like, oh no."
He feels the teeth of the front nine is the stretch from the fourth to the seventh while the entire back nine offers the ultimate in risk-reward.
"The 12th is amazing," he said. "With no wind, it's 140 yards, and it's going to be a good birdie chance. But as soon as you get some breeze, it's just gets so tricky down there.
"Last year, Patrick Reed hits a shot before me, eight iron, and it gets hammered by the wind and he didn't even cover the water on the front left. So I'm like, okay, I'll just flight down the same club and I hit it straight over a pin and airmailed the green, straight into the back bunker and I make four.
"We've both hit the same club pretty good shots. And the balls were like 30 yards apart with both struggling to make four. It was amazing. But that's that course. It requires a lot of precision, a lot of trust; trust in the wind and trust in what you're doing."
When it comes to making decisions, Corkman Keelan will be key, especially after playing the course himself two weeks ago.
"That's where Simon is really good,” Power said. "You can always hear it in his voice. He knows exactly when to say something to me and can sense when I'm a little unsure. I think you need a really good caddie around there. You're going to get to 12, 13, 15, 16 and there's a lot on the line, and there's breeze doing this and there's trouble here and you really need that voice."
After holing little last year, Power believes his excellent putting is a factor this week, providing he finds the pace and leaves himself in better spots.
"We play on fast greens a lot," he said. "But at Augusta, it's the speed combined with the slope. So you can feel like you hit a good shot like 20 feet and you get up there and you've got three, four feet of break. And that's where the speed gets tested."
Can he win?
"It's one of those fields," he said. "It's not the biggest field and it's one of those courses where if you hit a couple of loose shots, you can get away with them. If you just make a few putts, you've got a great chance there. So I think that's going to be the goal going in.”
