Power survives cut with gutsy finish

Seamus Power

Seamus Power produced a gutsy finish to make the cut and keep his FedEx Cup Playoff hopes alive at The Northern Trust in New Jersey.

The West Watford man (31) birdied the par-five 17th from three feet to dip under the cut mark at Ridgewood Country Club, then pulled off a chip and putt par save at the 18th to shoot a second successive 71 that left him tied for 67th with Tiger Woods on level par.

Power needs to finish solo 21st to make the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings who qualify for next week's Dell Technologies Championship in Boston.

But he's five shots outside that mark and ten strokes off the pace set by Jamie Lovemark (66) and world No 2 Brooks Koepka, who came home in six-under 30, closing with three birdies to card a six-under 65.

Koepka and Lovemark lead by a shot on 10-under par from Australian Adam Scott (64) with world No 1 Dustin Johnson just two behind after he recovered from an opening triple bogey seven to shoot 67 and share fourth with Bryson DeChambeau (66) on eight-under.

Phil Mickelson (48) fired a second successive 68 to lie just four shots off the lead and while he was pleased to make headlines for his golf rather than his decision to join Twitter ahead of his $9 million mano-a-mano with Tiger Woods in November, he admitted his family are waiting for him to land himself in hot water.

“I always kind of ride the line somewhere," a grinning Mickelson told reporters. ”Sometimes I cross it. Sometimes not. They are nervous. And they should be, you know, rightfully so, because in time, I will mess up."

The left-hander is seeking his 44th PGA Tour win, but pal Pádraig Harrington (46) is chasing his 16th in Europe after a second round 68 left him just two shots off the lead in the D+D Real Czech Masters in Prague.

The Dubliner is tied third spot behind Malaysia's Gavin Green on 10-under par at Albatross Golf Resort and looking forward to the weekend.

"It was a nice finish there with three birdies in the last five holes," said Harrington, who has incorporated a slight pause into his takeaway to great effect.

"This is where you want to be with 36 holes to go and we might have got the right side of the draw too so hopefully I’ll be there or thereabouts."

Green (24) shot a four-under 68 in cool, breezy conditions to lead by a shot on 12-under from Denmark's Jeff Winther.

But Ryder Cup vice-captain Harrington is just one stroke further back, tied for third with  Italy’s Andrea Pavan, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, who is trying to make his case for a wildcard.

“Thomas has played very nicely," Harrington said of Pieters' 70. "Obviously on the last couple of holes he dropped a shot and he could have put himself out at 12 or 13 under par, but he’s in a good position for the weekend."

Mount Juliet's Gavin Moynihan shot 72 to miss the four-under-par cut by two strokes with former Irish amateur teammate Paul McBride seven shots further back after a 77.

But Harrington clearly has his sights set on victory and while regular caddie Ronan Flood is on holiday, he’s getting on well with fellow Irishman Gerry Byrne.

At the Challenge Tour’s Rolex Trophy, Finland’s Kim Koivu could only manage a level par 72 and after leading by five at halfway, he's tied on 17-under with Germany’s Marcel Schneider (67) heading into the final round at Golf Club de Geneve.

They're six strokes clear of Portugal's Pedro Figuerido (69), South Korea's Minkyu Kim (69) and Switzerland's Joel Girrbach (67) with Michael Hoey tied for 37th on three-over after a 71.

In Seattle, Darren Clarke birdied three of his last four holes to open with an excellent, four under par 68 on his debut in the PGA Tour Champions’ Boeing Classic.

The former Open champion is tied for 11th, three shots behind Scott Parel, Tom Pernice Jnr and Kent Jones.