McGinley on Power: "Top 30 in the world is comfortably going to make the European team"
Seamus Power. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
PAUL McGinley believes Séamus Power must put the blinkers on and just keep going to make his Ryder Cup dream come true after cracking into golf's "Premier League".
The West Waterford man followed his second tour win in Bermuda with a tie for third in the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on Sunday to leap to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and to a career-high of 29th in the world.
It's been a remarkable and brilliantly timed run by the Tooraneena man (35), whose blistering 37-under-par tally for his last eight rounds has put him amongst the six automatic qualifiers for Luke Donald's European team for Rome.
But while Power said he plans to pick the brains of former European skippers McGinley and Pádraig Harrington when planning 2023, the winning 2014 captain believes scheduling is his biggest challenge.
"Now that he's in the Premier League and he's going to get into all these elevated $20 million events on the PGA Tour, in many ways, it's going to be self-perpetuating for Seamus in terms of the world rankings," said McGinley.
"Seamus will be playing in tournaments with the most world ranking points. He's got an opportunity to fly in the world rankings or, at worst, hold his position. That's what's so great about what he's done. He's in the big league. And when you're in the big league, it's picking the schedule that's the key."
Historically, Power looks all but guaranteed a spot on the European team should he retain his place inside the world's top 30 come September next year.
Six members of Harrington's 2021 team were ranked outside the top 30 at Whistling Straits — Lee Westwood (35th), Tommy Fleetwood (37th), Shane Lowry (41st), Sergio Garcia (43rd), Ian Poulter (50th) and Bernd Wiesberger (63rd) while there were 10 top-30 players in 2018, six in 2016, nine in 2014 and 2012 and 10 in 2010.
Look back at the last six European teams and just three players in the top 30 in the world have been overlooked for picks, having failed to qualify under different systems to the US-friendly one in place today.
In 2010, world No 8 Paul Casey and No 23 Justin Rose were denied picks by Colin Montgomerie (in favour of Edoardo Molinari, Harrington and Donald) while in 2018, 29th-ranked Rafa Cabrera Bello lost out to Ian Poulter, Sergio García and Paul Casey.
Casey was 30th in the world in 2016, but he was not a member of the European Tour and was ineligible to earn points or be selected. Miguel Angel Jiménez was 34th when missing out on a wildcard from McGinley in 2014, while in 2012, world No 39 David Lynn missed out to Nicolas Colsaerts and Poulter.
The Ryder Cup qualifying system has changed radically since 2010 when Casey, Rose, Harrington and Donald skipped the final qualifying event at Gleneagles to play the first FedEx Cup playoff event.
Next year, the PGA Tour is staging 13 "elevated" $20 million events in addition to the four Majors, and while that means scheduling will be a challenge for everyone in 2023, including Lowry and McIlroy, Power will have ample opportunity to earn huge world ranking points.
McGinley reckons Power could not have timed his rise to the top of the game any better given the changing landscape of professional golf with record prize funds now available and six Ryder Cup picks up for grabs.
"Luke won't be afraid to pick a rookie, so Seamus doesn't need to worry about that," McGinley said. "His performances in these big events are obviously going to be important. But basically, he just has to keep going. Like a racehorse, put the blinkers on and keep doing what you're doing and enjoying it.
"He's got a lot of points in the board already, so he can push it to the side. I think if he can keep improving his world ranking position, he will secure a spot on the team. End of story.
"Top 30 in the world is comfortably going to make the European team, and now that he's playing in these elite events with huge points available, he's got an opportunity to go even higher, particularly the LIV guys losing points.
"As for matchplay, we were brought up in the Irish system of hardened matchplay, and I'd have no worries whatsoever about his matchplay pedigree. With six picks this year again, the big key for him is to keep improving his world ranking position and if he does that, making that Ryder Cup team is a foregone conclusion."
With three Irishmen in the world's top 30 for the first time, McGinley sees Power as another inspiration to Ireland's up-and-coming players.
Not only will he inspire Holywood teenager Tom McKibbin (19), who graduated from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour on Sunday, but he will also be an inspiration for West Waterford clubmate Gary Hurley, who joins Jonathan Caldwell, John Murphy and former Walker Cup teammates Paul Dunne and Cormac Sharvin at the Final Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School this week.
"The more Irish guys on tour to better," said McGinley, who sees McKibbin as a player with the "X-Factor" and a "sixth gear" having played with him at Windsor in Florida two years ago and watched him shoot an effortless 64.
"That peer pressure and peer competitiveness is a really healthy environment to be in. They'll pull each other along in the slipstream of maybe not Rory, but certainly what Shane and Shane and Seamus are doing.
"Look at what it sparked in Ireland. Padraig won a major all of a sudden, Graeme was winning, Rory was winning one, Shane was winning one. That spark of competitiveness among your peer group is really important in professional golf.
"The Irish are like family and you're hanging with people who are being successful. I certainly benefited from that on tour, and I'm sure the lads are too.
"So that's why I'm keen to see a good few of them getting on tour together and pulling each other along. That kind of Irish family is really important on tour. It breeds a healthy competitiveness."
