Power in last chance saloon; Walker Cup conundrum for Robertson
Séamus Power needs his best PGA Tour result in four years at this week’s Wyndham Championship to make next week’s FedEx Cup Play-Offs in Memphis.
The West Waterford man (39) tees it up at Sedgefield Country Club, needing to finish solo second at worst to make the top 70 in the standings who contest the $20 million FedEx St. Jude Championship.
It’s a big ask for the Tooraneena man who hasn’t had a top-two finish since winning his second PGA Tour title in Bermuda nearly four years ago.
But he arrives in North Carolina with decent form, despite last week’s missed cut in Detroit, having finished 11th in the Corales Punta Cana Championship and joint 10th in the 3M Open in Minnesota in his previous two starts.
He starts the week ranked 110th in the FedEx Cup and will still have the rest of the Fall Series to move into the top 100 who will be fully exempt in 2027.
This week’s event features 15 of the world’s top 50 and six of the top 25, headed by Cameron Young, Aaron Rai, Ben Griffin, Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama and Ryan Gerard.
World number 26 Sepp Straka also plays, and he’s confirmed he’ll join fellow Ryder Cup stars Patrick Reed, Robert MacIntyre and Francesco Molinari in the Amgen Irish Open in Doonbeg from September 10-13.
On the LET, Anna Foster, Sara Byrne and Aine Donegan tee it up in the $2 million PIF London Championship at Centurion Club while in the LET Access Series, Co Down’s Beth Coulter made a fast start to the CSK Steel Women’s Open at Himmerland Resort in Denmark.
The former Curtis Cup star took up where she left off after winning on her professional debut in the Women’s Irish Challenge on Sunday, carding a two-under 70 to share second place with England’s Bel Wardle, just two strokes behind Germany’s Theresa De Bochdanovits.
In the R&A Men’s and Women’s Home Internationals at a windy Woodbrook, it was a mixed day for the home team, who were cheered on during the morning by Ryder Cup star Lowry.
Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup captain Dean Robertson will have been keeping an eye on players who could potentially make the side for Lahinch next month and join Tullamore’s Stuart Grehan, who earned automatic selection by winning the Amateur Championship.
Tyler Weaver, Luke Poulter, Eliot Baker and Niall Sheils Donegan earned their places via WAGR and with Connor Graham a certainty, there are four spots up for grabs.
Seb Cave is considered a potential pick, but could Robertson call on Caolan Rafferty, who has played little this year but has a great record at Lahinch or also look to David Howard, John Doyle or Thomas Higgins to boost the home atmosphere?
With Tyler Weaver pulling out of the US Amateur at Merion next week as he battles injury, nothing can be ruled out before the captain names the team the week starting August 17.
Ireland beat Wales 12.5-8.5 in the combined match at Woodbrook, but while the women cruised to an 8-1 victory in their title defence, the men lost 4.5-7.5.
They trailed 1.5-2.5 after the foursomes with Walker Cup possibles Howard and Higgins losing by one hole to South of Ireland Championship runner-up Tomi Bowen and Caolan Burford.
While Higgins halved with Bowen and Keith Egan halved with Jonathan Bale, singles wins for Gavin O’Neill and Dylan Keating were not enough to avoid a 3-5 session defeat.
In the other match, England beat Scotland 13.5-9.5 overall — 6-3 for the women and 7.5-6.5 for the men.
