Power on the up; McGee on fire; Stone left cold
Seamus Power
Seamus Power took another step towards retaining his PGA Tour card when he finished tied 16th in the John Deere Classic in Illinois.
Sitting in the hot seat at 125th in the FedEx Cup standings with just six weeks of the regular season remaining, the West Waterford star eased the pressure on his shoulders when he closed with a 69 to finish 13 shots behind runaway winner Michael Kim on 14-under.
As a result, he pocketed $81,366 and moved up eights crucial spots to 117th in the FedEx Cup standings with only the top 125 on August 19 keeping their cards.
Kim celebrated his 25th birthday by firing a 64 on Saturday to open up a five-shot lead before starting the final round with three straight birdies to ease further clear.
He eventually closed with a five-under 66 to win by eight shots from Bronson Burgoon, Joel Dahmen, Sam Ryder and Francesco Molinari on 27 under, earning his Open Championship debut this week and a first trip to the Masters next year as well as $1,044,000.
GULLANE, SCOTLAND - JULY 15: Brandon Stone of South Africa celebrates victory with the trophy during day four of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at Gullane Golf Course on July 15, 2018 in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Stone misses out on 59
Kim will be joined at Carnoustie by South African Brandon Stone (25), who agonisingly missed an eight-footer for the European Tour’s first 59 before tapping in for a 10-under 60 to win the ASI Scottish Open and one of three spots in The Open on offer at Gullane.
He triumphed by four strokes on 20-under par from England's Eddie Pepperell, who shot 64, with the other place at Carnoustie going to overnight leader Jens Danthorp.
The Swede's 68 left him tied for third with the exempt Luke List and Trevor Immelman on 15-under, edging out the former Masters champion by virtue of his higher world ranking.
Graeme McDowell was 63rd on three-under after a 71 and now misses The Open for the second year running.
“It's incredible. If I'm going to be brutally honest, I had no idea what my score was until I walked on the 18th green. It was just one of those days where everything went well, hit it great, holed some beautiful putts, and obviously to walk away with 60 having missed an eight-footer was a slight disappointment, but I won't really complain.
“Obviously the wedge shots on 15 and 16 were quite pivotal, gave myself fantastic opportunities there. And then the putt on 16 is pretty much where you could say the tournament was won for me. I felt great. I knew I just needed to make three more good swings, and when that thing went home, the emotions came flooding in. I had to really struggle to keep it in.
“It's been a long 18-month journey, making a few changes, but the swing felt incredible today. The putting felt even better, the mental state was flawless. So, a day where you're shooting 60 and winning the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open is something I'm going to hold dear to my heart for a long time.
“We are now playing at Carnoustie, and that golf course can humble you very quickly. So I'm under no elusions I'm going to have to do my preparation correctly. I'm going to hopefully get in there tomorrow. Hopefully I can find accommodation, if I'm going to be honest. I wasn't exactly planning on going through. But it was a fantastic week this week, and hopefully I can build on this and get a few more results.”
McGee, Moynihan and Hoey top-10 it in Italy
Derry's Ruaidhri McGee birdied five of his last six holes for an immaculate, eight-under 63 and a share of fourth in the Italian Challenge in Sardinia.
He finished three shots behind Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg, who shot a 65 to win by a shot from Norway's Erik Tage Hansen on 17-under.
Michael Hoey and Gavin Moynihan tied for seventh, one stroke further back, after 67s.
In Germany, former Irish Open and Smurfit European Open winner Stephen Dodd celebrated his 52nd birthday with a wire-to-wire victory at the Staysure Tour's WINSTONgolf Senior Open.
He closed with a 71 to win by six strokes from France’s Jean-François Remesy on 15-under with Paul McGinley tied eighth on six-under after three consecutive 70s.
