Seamus Power returns to action after a two-month layoff in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with more desire than ever to make his mark on the PGA Tour.

The West Waterford man might have lost his full playing privileges last season, but he knows he cannot let his self-belief waiver for a second on a tour that becomes stronger every year with the addition of fearless young guns from the college ranks.

Like Rory McIlroy, who admits that his biggest challenge for the next ten years will be the new breed of players who hit the ball a country mile and hunt down every pin, he's confident in his ability to compete.

"I am really looking forward to playing again," said Power, who has not played on the PGA Tour for two months. "I have been avoiding even watching golf on TV for the past while. I haven't played since the RSM Classic in November, so it's going to be great."

Bar a trip to California to try to Monday qualify for the Farmers Insurance Open — an early triple bogey putting paid to his hopes — he's been working on his game with coach Justin Parsons and feels closer to where he needs to be having taken steps to fix a physical issue that's been holding him back.

"I've done some good practice with Justin Parsons and I'm looking forward now to testing it in competition and seeing how it goes," he said.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am — Tee-times

"I have a little physical limitation on the left side of my neck that I have been working to fix that for about eight months, so while it's going to take a bit more time to get exactly right, it's coming along nicely. You never get a true feel for it until you test it in tournament mode, so I am looking forward to seeing how it goes this week.

Seamus Power and Pádraig Harrington and the Rio Olympics in 2016

"I played a Monday qualifier for the Farmers and had a big number in the start, so it was one of those. If you are not going well after six or eight holes, you can almost walk in. But I got some competitive practice done there in the southwest, so it was worth a shot. I ended up being the second alternate for Torrey Pines as well, but that's the deal with my category this year. You have to be patient and wait for your chances. It's probably going to be slim pickings for me in the early part of the year, but I will get a lot of opportunities, especially in the summer, so the main thing is to be ready to take advantage of them."

The wraparound season gives the lesser names a chance to make early in-roads in the FedEx Cup standings. While Power has had a mixed start to the 2019-20 season, making 13 of 27 cuts, he's not overawed in the least by rising standards but confident in his ability to compete with the best.

"It gets deeper and deeper all the time," he said. "More guys are coming off the Korn Ferry Tour or coming out of college here, and they are ready to go. We saw it last summer with Wolff, Morikawa and Hovland. These guys are coming out ready to compete, which was never really the case before. Apart from the likes of Tiger and Jordan Spieth and Bud Cauley, very few were capable of doing that. But now they are coming one after another, and they are ready to compete right away. It's amazing, but it's a great time for golf with all these young names. It makes you want to stay there even more yourself.

"It's always going to be a challenge but no matter who is out there you always have to have that belief deep down that you deserve to be one of those guys out there.

"Margins are so fine, and that's the beauty of the game. It's one of the few sports where trying to pick who is going to win any given week is almost impossible. There are so many unknowns and so many variables, and the margins are just extremely slim. It might be half a shot per round which could be hitting one extra fairway or one shot to four feet instead of fifteen, or lipping less often.

"It's a remarkable sport like that, but that's what makes it so fun. You know that if you can just push through and do these little things slightly better, you can have a much better performance for the whole year. It's cool.

"Paul Dunne and I are in a similar situation. You don't have a full card, but you are still going to get opportunities. I had all the tournaments last year and just didn't take advantage of opportunities. It is not a question of quantity. Three or four good tournaments in a year are more than enough."

Power played 27 tournaments last year, but while he had two top-10s and five top-25s, he missed 14 cuts and finished 143rd in the FedEx Cup standings. It means he's playing in the 126-150 category this year, but he knows one week can change everything.

"I was in everything I wanted to be in last year, and it didn't really add up to much," he said. "I played in more tournaments than I did the previous two years but ended up with fewer points. It's funny. You are going to get opportunities, and it is just a matter of being ready to take advantage when they do come along.

"You are always looking at where you can improve, even your strengths. The key is pulling all elements of the game together. Those are the weeks where you are going to make your money. That's the goal - get a little run going for a month or so, which can change the whole perspective of a year.

"I had three weeks in a row last year from Hilton Head (T6) through New Orleans (T5) and Wells Fargo (T13) and got myself in a great position but wasn't able to take advantage later in the summer."

Given his category, he knows he will have to be patient and wait for the longer spring days and the 156-man fields to come along before he can get a good run of events.

"I'll get all the smaller events, but the big thing for me is to play well," he said. "A top 10 means automatically qualifying for the next tournament so I am going to have to rack up some positive results that way. And you will still be going for that first win which even in a smaller tournament carries a two-year exemption. That's the goal. Put yourself in position and see if you can perform."

He got home for a while last year to meet all his old pals from West Waterford, which went on sale last year for €1.5 million.

"I am keeping my fingers crossed that golf will continue and West Waterford will have even more success going forward," he said.

He would love to return home for another appearance in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet in May, but that will depend on his PGA Tour season.

"I have to look at the schedule, but it was such a great experience last summer, I'd love to do it again if it was a possibility," said the Tooraneena man, who opened with rounds of 70 and 66 at Lahinch last year but faded to 60th with weekend rounds of 73 and 72. "Maybe a couple of good weeks would help sort that out."

As for the talk of the new Premier Golf League he's been hearing the rumours for several years but wonders what kind of purses can be created to compete against a tour where The Players Championship is offering $15 million this year.

"It's hard to tell. If you are talking about mega-money, it might be something to worry about. But with all the TV deals and sponsorship deals already in place on the PGA Tour, it will be hard to imagine how it would succeed, especially with major championship qualifications at stake," he said. "I don't know enough, but the email from Jay Monahan suggested the PGA Tour were aware but not overly concerned. Maybe there's something to it, who knows. It's the first time it's been acknowledged by the PGA Tour."

He resumes his quest for his card with amateur Mike Weeks alongside Maverick and Mike McNealy on Pebble Beach Golf Links today before heading to Spyglass Hill tomorrow and Monterey Peninsula Country Club Country on Saturday looking to improve on his tie for 39th in the event three years ago.

"The pace of play is slow, but the people you play with are always extremely interesting and for the most part, extremely successful people," he said. "I enjoy it."

Graeme McDowell clutches the US Open trophy and a beer on his return to his hotel following his win at Pebble Beach in 2010. Picture © Brian Keogh

Taking advantage of your chances has been key to Graeme McDowell’s return to the world’s top 50 and while he feels confident he can compete on 90 per cent of courses despite being an average hitter, he’s backing golf’s governing bodies in their war on distance gains.

Back at the scene of his 2010 US Open win, the Portrush veteran (40) welcomes the "Distance Insights Report” from R&A and the USGA and plans to curb the "ever-increasing cycle of hitting distances."

"When it starts to affect the integrity of some of the greatest courses in the game, where you don't have a lot of real estate left to make changes, there's a problem," McDowell told Golf Channel.

"To me, when they moved the 17th tee at the Old Course, I was like, 'Is that necessary?' It's one of the most iconic tee shots in the world."

With Augusta National also making room to potentially lengthen the par-five 13th by up to 50 yards, he added: "If this continues, continues, continues, and we fast forward into the future, it could become silly.

"I don't think we want to continue the way we are going. It really needs to stop somewhere."

Now 47th in the world following his win in the Saudi International, he hopes take advantage of starts in World Golf Championships and Majors that he once took for granted.

"I think all those years where it's expected, maybe you don't appreciate what it is and what they are and how important they are at the time," confessed McDowell, who will have a chance at Pebble Beach to catch up with European Ryder Cup captain Pádraig Harrington, who has 11 events of a medical exemption remaining to regain his PGA Tour card having missed several weeks last season due to his wrist injury.