Challenge Tour, European Tour, PGA TourBrian KeoghWorld Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Viktor Hovland, Seamus Power

Power chasing "magic" and impressive Hovland in Mexico

Challenge Tour, European Tour, PGA TourBrian KeoghWorld Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Viktor Hovland, Seamus Power
Power chasing "magic" and impressive Hovland in Mexico

Seamus Power

Seamus Power hasn’t given up hope of notching his second PGA TOUR win of the year and reckons “a little bit of magic” could still do the trick in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

The West Waterford man came close to slam-dunking his tee shot for a hole-in-one at the 15th at El Camaleon only to see it ricochet off the flagstick to the front of the green. 

He failed to convert the resulting 10 footer for birdie but still carded a four-under 67 to share 10th place on 11-under par, eight shots behind defending champion Viktor Hovland, who fired a nine-under 62 to lead by two shots from Talor Gooch (63) and by three from Justin Thomas (64) on 19-under.

The big Toornaneena man knows he will likely have to get to 20-under par or better to have any chance, which means he will have to at least shoot a career-best 10-under 61.

“When the wind lowered, you knew that you were going to have to get to 20 (under) or at least close,” Power said after a five-birdie round. “That’s still going to be the goal tomorrow. 

“Obviously, that leaves me a lot of work to do, but that’s why you’re here. You want to get us as close to that winning number as you can.

“I am going to try and stay nice and aggressive. Hopefully, you’re going to need a few putts to go in here and there. So play the par fives well and a little bit of magic here and there, and you never know.”

Power birdied the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth, then followed a bogey at the 12th with a birdie four at the 13th before that near-miss at the 15th.

“It wasn’t bad,” he said of his round. “It was a little ropey the first three holes. I missed the first three fairways, but from there, I settled down and hit a lot of good shots. 

“There are a couple of putts I’d like to have back on the back nine but overall not too bad. I thought the finish was playing a little more difficult today — 16 and 18 in particular were more difficult — but overall not too bad.”

As for his near ace at the 15th, he took it on the chin.

“I hit the flag,” he said. “It was 132 gusting off the left, so I flighted down a pitching wedge. It felt like it never left the flag. 

“I couldn’t see where it hit the flag, but I felt like it was going to be pretty close. But it came back to the front edge, unfortunately, and I didn’t make the putt. That happens in golf. It was a beautiful shot, and I would’ve been nice if it had gone in, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Matthieu Pavon. Picture: Getty Images

At the European Tour’s Portugal Masters, Pádraig Harrington remained on track in his quest to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

 The veteran (50) made four birdies in a three-under 68 to move into the top 20 heading into Sunday’s final round in Vilamoura.

Harrington is tied for 19th place on six-under and projected to move up from 68th to 62nd in the Race to Dubai with the top 50 after next week’s AVIV Dubai Championship qualifying for the final event.

The three-time Major champion is 10 strokes behind Matthieu Pavon of France and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, who hold a four-stroke lead over 2017 winner Lucas Bjerregaard on 16-under par after carding six-under-par 65s at Dom Pedro Victoria.

Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell is tied 28th on four-under after carding five birdies and three bogeys in a third-round 69.

Jesper Kennegard. Picture: Getty Images

Meanwhile, Michael Hoey struggled to a five-over 76 and fell back to 32nd on two-over-par, heading into the final round of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A.

Ranked 36th in the Road to Mallorca standings with the top 20 after Sunday’s final round guarantee strong European Tour cards, he’s 12 strokes off the lead and needs a low final round to improve on his ranking of 35th, which will still earn him a strong European Tour schedule in 2022.

Sweden’s Jesper Kennegard is within touching distance of a European Tour card after a third-round 67 gave him a one-shot lead at T-Golf & Country Club.

Kennegard entered the week ranked 40th in the Road to Mallorca standings but is projected to move up to fifth with a win.

He’s one stroke clear of Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde, who could join JB Hansen and Thomas Bjørn and become the third Dane to win the Road to Mallorca Rankings on Sunday.