Patient Power fires 64 to keep last gasp card bid on track in Georgia
Seamus Power speaks after his opening 64 at Sea Island.
Séamus Power kept his cool and fired a sizzling six-under 64 to keep his hopes alive of retaining his PGA Tour card at the season-ending RSM Classic in Georgia.
Dogged by injuries and flagging form for the past two years, the West Waterford man finally feels himself and showed it by carding his lowest round for six months at Sea Island’s Seaside Course.
Ranked 128th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, he needs to finish third to make the top 100 in the points standings, who will be exempt next year.
But having finally shrugged off niggling hip and back issues, he hopes he’s hit form in time to compete in what will be a low-scoring shootout in Georgia.
“Actually, really good now, kind of a little later than I would have wanted, but it feels great,” said Power, who was projected to move to 120th, when asked about his game.
"It's amazing, just a little bit of confidence coming back makes this game seem so much easier.”
He had to take a penalty drop after a wild opening drive on the 10th, but rattled in seven birdies, including two at his 16th and 17th holes, after a frustrating run of five pars tried his patience in the middle of his back nine.
“It was a good day,” said the Tooraneena man, who was tied for 15th, just four shots behind Davis Thompson and Rico Hoey, who fired 10-under 62s on the Plantation Course, and Doug Ghim, who shot 60 on the Seaside layout.
“When conditions are like this, you're really always going to be fighting the patience thing. You go two or three holes making pars, you feel like you're going backwards.
“I went a little cold on the front nine there, and then was able to get a couple on seven and eight to kind of help. You have to stay patient because you don't know when the run’s going to come.
“It could be tomorrow, could be Saturday, could be Sunday. So you keep plodding along and maybe one low nine-hole stretch could go a long ways.”
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire fought back from two over after four holes to open with a two-under 70 in the $11m CME Group Tour Championship.
The Co. Cavan star birdied the fifth and 11th to get back to level par at Tiburón, and after making her third bogey of the day at the long 14th, reeled off three birdies in a row from the 15th to move up the leaderboard.
She ended the day tied for 32nd, six shots behind Somi Lee, who shot an eight-under 64 to lead by two shots from Allisen Corpuz in the race for the $4 million winner’s cheque.
Meanwhile, Tom McKibbin’s four-under 67 left him seven shots behind his Legion XIII teammate Caleb Surratt in the PIF Saudi International at halfway.
The LIV Golf star was joint 19th on seven under as Surratt’s 66 gave him a one-shot lead over Belgium’s Thomas Pieters in Riyadh where former US Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim turned heads by firing a 64 to share third with England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Spaniard Josele Ballester, who shot 65s.
It’s the first time Kim (40) has been in contention since making his comeback after a 12-year absence last year.
Portrush’s Graeme McDowell also played well, carding a 68 to share 28th on six-under, eight strokes behind Surratt.
At the Sunshine Tour’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Final, Liam Grehan and Rowan Lester opened with five-under par 67s to share 15th, just four shots behind Christiaan Burke at Pezula Golf Estate in the Western Cape.
