In form Power makes FedEx Cup move with top eight finish in Ohio
Seamus Power
Seamus Power has set his sights on the FedEx Cup Playoffs after a sizzling 66 saw him clinch his fifth top-20 finish in a row at the John Deere Classic in Ohio.
The West Waterford ace (34) scorched home in a blistering four-under 32, finishing tied for sixth, four shots behind winner Lucas Glover on 15-under, picking up a cheque for $181,350 (€153,000).
The man from Tooraneena has been in sensational form for the past eight weeks, racking up three top-10s and two top-20s by playing his last five events in an incredible 61-under par.
"Yeah, delighted," said Power, who has made a career-best eight cuts in a row since he missed out at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in mid-February, jumping from 205th to 123rd in the FedExCup standings with the top 125 after the Wyndham Championship on August 15 making the Playoffs.
"I had a lot of ground to make up, and I'm kind of working on it still. But any time you get a decent finish out here, you've got to play well, you've got to work hard.
"There's still going on all around the world here in the next few weeks, so it's nice to get some points under my belt and have something to build on."
Tied 24th overnight, six shots behind Sebastian Muñoz, Power turned in just one-under as he followed birdies at the second and fourth with a bogey at the ninth.
But he slammed his foot on the gas coming home, and after firing a 189-yard approach to six feet at the 11th, he hit his tee shot stone dead at the 187-yard 12th, then rolled in 22 footer at the 14th before firing a wedge to 15 inches at the 15th to go five-under for the day.
"My game is in a good spot at the moment, so it obviously kind of helps the mind be a little bit more relaxed, but I've still got a lot of work to do to get at least in the Top 125 to get in the Playoffs," said Power, who shrugged off missed chances at the 17th and 18th and is now looking forward to this week's Barbasol Championship in Kentucky.
"That's going to be my main goal for now, and I think I've got the next two weeks coming up, so obviously, I'll enjoy today and start again on Tuesday.”
Glover birdied five of his last seven holes and closed with a seven-under 64 to win his fourth PGA Tour title by two shots on 19-under from Ryan Moore and Kevin Na.
Moore earns a spot in this week’s The Open Championship as the leading player (not otherwise exempt) among the top five and ties. But should he choose not to accept the exemption, Adam Long, first on the reserve list will take that spot.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington headed for Sandwich with a spring in his step after closing with a 71 to tied for 18th on 11-under behind playoff winner Min Woo Lee in the abrdn Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.
The Dubliner (49), who finished fourth in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, four shots behind Phil Mickelson, can become the oldest Open winner since Old Tom Morris won at 46 years, 3 months, 10 days in 1867.
Cormac Sharvin's one-over 72 left him 44th on eight-under as Australian Lee (22) made six birdies in a row from the third in a seven-under 64 to overhaul Ian Poulter, who shot 63, and set the target at 18-under.
Belgium's Thomas Detry and England's Matthew Fitzpatrick shot 67s to force sudden-death.
But both men failed to hit their approaches close on their return to the 18th where Lee fired a 179-yard approach to nine feet and rapped in the putt to claim his second European Tour win and his first Rolex Series victory.
Lee, Detry and England's Jack Senior, 10th after a 66, clinched the three places in The Open as Marcel Siem (40) won the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France to join them at Sandwich.
The German shot a four-under 67 to edge out Chile's Hugo Leon by a shot on 15-under as Kinsale's John Murphy tied 11th on six-under after a 71 with Tom McKibbin 16th after a 67 and Conor Purcell tied 20th after a 70.
Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (positive for COVID-19), Bubba Watson (close contact of a positive case) and 2001 winner David Duval were replaced in The Open field by Harold Varner III, Brendan Steele and John Catlin.
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire tied for 15th, 10 shots behind Japan's Nasa Hataoka after the Marathon LPGA Classic was reduced to 54 holes due to heavy rain.
