Solid start for Seamus Power in Mexico as Lauren Walsh goes low in China
Seamus Power hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/PGA of America)
Séamus Power opened with a four-under 68 in the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, but he’s still got a long way to go to earn a strong card for 2026.
At 135th in the FedEx Cup Fall rankings, Power has three events to make the top 100, who will be fully exempt and the top 125, who will earn conditional status for next year.
Solo second place would catapult Power to safety, but he’s four shots outside that mark and seven strokes behind leaders Nick Dunlap and Finland’s Sami Valimaki, who opened with 11-under 61s at El Cardonal at Diamante Cabo San Lucas.
A top 19 finish would put Power into the top 125 with next week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship to come before his status will be determined after The RSM Classic at Sea Island from November 20-23.
The West Waterford man ended the opening day tied for 34th when play was suspended with two groups left on the course.
Lauren Walsh in action at Mission Hills China. Tristan Jones / LET
He birdied three of his first four holes but bogeyed the fifth before coming home in two-under thanks to birdies at the 12th and 18th.
On the Ladies European Tour, Lauren Walsh kept her hopes alive of finishing in the top 10 in the Order of Merit and earning a shot at the LPGA Q-School when she fired a bogey-free, seven-under 66 to make the cut in the Aramco China Championship at Mission Hills China.
One of her rivals for that Top 10 spot in the Order of Merit, New Zealander Amelia Garvey, lies 35th on four under after a 69 in an event where she needs a top 10 finish to leapfrog the Irish star.
As Anna Foster shot a 74 that saw her miss the two-under par cut by three shots, Walsh leapt into a tie for 25th on five-under.
The Carton House touring professional got off to a sensational start as she covered the back nine at the World Cup Course in five under 32.
She birdied the 13th and 14th before making birdies at the last three holes, then came home in two under following birdies at the third and sixth.
She missed just one green and one fairway in regulation and heads into the final round seven shots behind leader Trichat Cheenglab on five-under.
The Thai star also shot 65 to lead by one stroke from China’s Ruoning Yin and Ruixin Liu, who also shot 65, on 12-under.
At the LPGA’s TOTO Japan Classic at Seta Golf Course in Shiga, Korea’s Jiyai Shin shot 67 and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka a 68 to lead by a shot from AIG Women’s Open champion Miyu Yamashita of Japan on 11 under.
