Power overtakes Lowry and goes to 47th in the world despite American Express disappointment
Séamus Power
SÉAMUS POWER could look on the bright side after his final round reverse in The American Express as he jumped two spots to 47th in the world, overtaking Shane Lowry and moving closer to his Masters debut.
Just two strokes off the lead heading into Sunday's final round on the Pete Dye Stadium Course at La Quinta, the West Waterford star saw his hopes of a second PGA TOUR win dashed in his first six holes.
He double-bogeyed the first after a wild drive forced him to reload, bogeyed the second after a bunkered tee shot and then double-bogeyed the 231-yard sixth after a visit to water to slip to five-over-par.
But having played his previous 198 holes in 55-under-par, he did not let his bad start faze him and birdied four of the next six holes to haul himself back in the top 20.
A bogey at the 15th followed by three closing pars saw him sign for a two-over 74, his worst score for three months.
But he still tied for 14th on 14-under par — his third consecutive top 15 finish to start the new year — and picked up $119,700 to take his winnings for the 2022-23 season to $1,351,142.
He also moved up two places to 12th in the FedEx Cup standings, leaving him as the leading Irish player, three places ahead of world number eight Rory McIlroy (15th) after recording seven top-25 finishes in his first nine starts this season.
More importantly for his hopes of making his Masters debut in April, he rose three spots in the world rankings to 46th, overtaking former Irish amateur teammate Lowry, who started with a triple-bogey seven in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and finished tied 12th after a 77, falling one spot to 49th in the world.
Power must either win an event offer 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner or remain inside the top 50 in the world until March 28 to clinch his Masters.
He certainly appears well-placed to make that first official trip down Magnolia Lane.
He will skip this week's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines to rest at his Las Vegas base, then return to play the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera before returning home to Waterford for a week's break.
After that, he will have further chances to improve his ranking as he plays high profile events such as the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, the Players Championship and the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play before the Masters field is set.
The American Express title went to 34-year-old American Hudson Swafford, who was playing alongside Power and Harry Higgs and closed with an eight-under-par 64 to win his third PGA TOUR title by two strokes from Tom Hoge (68) on 23-under par.
Tied for fifth overnight, a shot behind Power and three strokes behind leaders Lee Hodges and Paul Barjon, Swafford started with a bogey but then birdied the second, fifth, sixth and eighth to turn in 33.
He was two strokes behind Hodges heading down the back nine but scorched home in 31 to Hodges' 36 to win the event for the second time since 2017.
The 34-year old from Tallahassee birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th, then sandwiched another birdie at the 14th between bogeys at the 13th and 15th before finishing eagle-birdie-par.
He was tied for the lead with Brian Harman and Francesco Molinari at 20 under heading down the stretch but pulled ahead with the eagle from eight feet at the 16th, then knocked in a 20-foot birdie putt on the island green 17th before making a clutch eight-footer at the last.
"This was definitely a special one, a third win, and about a month ago, my father passed away and his birthday was this week, so I know he was following and watching and to get it done, it was awesome," Swafford said.
"He hadn't really watched me since I think 2017 Masters. I think it was the last time he came out and followed me around on the golf course… So to get a W while he's pushing me from above, it's so special.