Power cuts it fine in Florida

Seamus Power 

Seamus Power dodged a bullet when he birdied the par-five 18th at Atlantic Beach Country Club to make the five-under cut on the mark in the Web.com Tour Championship and keep his PGA Tour card hopes alive.

The Tooraneena man, 30, needs to be inside the top 25 in The Finals 25 — the mini-money list compiled from the four Web.com Tour Finals — to regain full status for 2017-18.

Power was 19th in the list starting the week and while a grinding, one-under 70 on Friday leaves him 12 shots behind leader Sam Saunders, he is projected to fall four spots to 23rd given he is now tied for 55th place.

Power bogeyed his third hole, recovered with three straight birdies from the fifth, but then made a double-bogey five with a visit to the hazard at the par-three 15th before finishing with that birdie.

When he finished, he looked safe at five-under, but in the end, he only made it on the mark.

At least he made it.

Making the cut was crucial and Power knows he now needs to make a move up as far up the leaderboard as possible to avoid any unpleasant surprises. 

As for Saunders, he followed his opening 59 with a second-round 66 to reach 17-under and take a two-shot lead into weekend play at the fourth and final Web.com Tour Finals event.

Saunders finished one spot ahead of Power at 129th in the FedEx Cup standings this season and was a tenuous 24th in The Finals 25 entering the week.

If he remains on top, he is projected to finish second in The Finals 25 an earn a strong PGA Tour card for next season

“It’s been a long time. I haven’t won anything out on the Web or the PGA Tour," said Saunders, who is a grandson of the late Arnold Palmer.

"I’ve had some close calls. I lost in a playoff on the PGA Tour. A couple of years ago I had a second in Utah, so it’s been close, but I need to get a win. I think the bottom line is I need to win a golf tournament.

"And obviously my goal at this point, being my fourth year on the PGA Tour, my goal is to win on the PGA Tour, but this is still a very big stage. 

"These are the best players in the world. These are really, really good players out here. So, if I can win this golf tournament, then that 100 percent proves to me that I can win on the PGA Tour. More so than losing in a playoff out there.”