Power hails rise to world No. 49 as milestone but adds: “This is only a passing point for now”

Séamus Power completed an epic 274-day journey from fighting for his card to world No 49 when he brilliantly birdied his last two holes to tie for third behind Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Matsuyama spectacularly came from five strokes behind overnight leader Russell Henley at the turn, closing with a seven-under 63 to force a playoff on 23-under before ripping a 276-yard three-wood to 32 inches at the first extra hole to set up a winning eagle three and his eighth PGA Tour win.

But Power (34) has been equally spectacular since he contracted Covid-19 nine months ago and feared for his future as he missed out on vital starts.

He battled his way out of that hole with brilliant golf (three top 10s and two top 20s in five torrid weeks), then went on to clinch his maiden PGA TOUR win at the Barbasol Championship in July.

He hasn't looked back since then and having started the 2021-22 season with five top 25 finishes in his first seven starts, he continued a red-hot run of form at Waialae Country Club near Honolulu when he closed with a second successive, five-under 65 to tie for third with Kevin Kisner, just four shots outside the playoff on 19-under par.

As a result, he jumps from 63rd to 49th in the latest world golf rankings — he was 434th 12 months ago — leaving him just one spot behind compatriot Shane Lowry and almost certain to make his Masters debut, providing he remains in the top 50 at the end of March.

Not only that, the West Waterford man won $442,500 to take his season's earnings to a cool $1,231,442.

He's also up to 14th in the FedEx Cup standings and racked up so many points he's already guaranteed a spot in the top 125 who make August's FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The move into the world's top 50 is the big milestone for the pride of Tooraneena, who believes he is only getting started in his bid to become a multiple PGA Tour winner.

"It's definitely a special moment," Power said as he prepared to jet out to California for this week's American Express Championship in Palm Springs. "It's a huge milestone, but the plan is for this to be only a passing point for now.

"It would have been impossible to imagine myself on this path a few years ago because my biggest obstacle was my lack of opportunities to play."

Playing in the penultimate group, four strokes behind Henley and Matsuyama, Power looked destined to contend for his second PGA Tour win when he rolled in a 38 footer for birdie at the first, then made a 28 footer for another at the second to move within two shots of the lead.

But he never quite hit the ball close enough all day, and while he shaved the holed with an eagle effort at the ninth and turned in three-under, he was soon seven strokes behind Henley, who followed birdies at the sixth, seventh and eighth with an eagle three at the ninth to turn in six-under 29.

Power then saw his title chances slip away when he duffed a pitch from a poor lie at the driveable 10th and did well to save par, then missed the green and bogeyed the short 11th.

But as Matsuyama turned the screw on Henley and played the back nine in four-under to the American's one-over to force sudden-death, Power clawed his way up the leaderboard.

"I felt like that took me out of contention to win it," Power said of his mistakes at the 10th and 11th. "I was able to get it turned around. Made three birdies in the last seven holes to turn it back around a little bit, so I was kind of proud of that one."

After making a 24 footer from the back fringe at the 12th, he made a 16 footer at the 194-yard 17th, then drove into sand at the 551-yard 18th but got up and down from 66 yards after an excellent lay up, calmly rolling in a six-footer for his sixth birdie of the day and 22nd of the week.

"Yeah, it's great," said Power, who was disappointed with his iron play last night but delighted to see his putter heat up. "You know, I don't know how many points or anything I'll get. I think I'll have probably my spot in the playoffs locked up after this week. That's a nice one. It's by far the earliest I've ever had it locked up before so it's kind of new territory for me."

On his ironplay on the final day, he added: "It was poor today. I was a bit disappointed with it, but the putter kind of got hot, so it's interesting. I mean, that's golf sometimes, isn't it?

"Yesterday I feel like I didn't miss a shot and couldn't quite get putts going until the end, and today I made nice putts on 1, 2, 4, I don't know, a few others in there, too, so it kind of kept me going.

"I feel like I balanced it out. Obviously, I wasn't able to get it going enough today to keep up with some of the guys there, but overall good week."

Power is becoming accustomed to playing late on Sunday having moved from 470th in the world to the top 50 over the past 12 months thanks to a rich vein of form — one win, six top-10s and seven top 25s in his last 21 starts.

"Yeah, it's a lot better," he said of his comfort level. "[My caddie] Simon [Keelan] and I were talking about it on the course. Georgia in the fall was the first time I played in the last group on a Sunday, so that was kind of cool.

"Second to the last group today, so you definitely do get used to it. There were huge crowds behind us following Hideki, so it takes some getting used to. You've kind of got to wait for the crowd to stop and go and that stuff. But, yeah, that's a problem I'll happily learn to deal with."

Henley had no complaints as he was relentlessly reeled in by Matsuyama, who moves from 19th to 10th in the world.

"Today was a little bit sloppy on the back nine, but I made the par saves I needed to make to put pressure on Hideki," said Henley, who shot 65 to Matsuyama's 63 despite coming home in one-over. "He just played incredible golf today.

"Really, I think just one mistake on 9 for him, three-putt par. But, yeah, I wish I could have put some more pressure on him. Tough to beat three-wood to two feet on 18."

Henley would bogey the first extra hole, but that was understandable after Matsuyama's wonder-shot into the setting sun.

"It was a perfect number for me for a cut three-wood, 276 yards left to right, follow wind," the Japanese ace said of a shot he didn't see as it took off into the glare of the setting sun.

"I knew the green was soft enough to hold it, and I was able to pull it off… To be honest, I didn't even see it. But everybody started cheering, and I knew it was good."

Five behind at the turn, Matsuyama birdied the 10th, then picked up two shots at the 11th as he made birdie to Henley's bogey, then birdied the 15th from 18 feet and the 18th with a superb lag putt from 55 feet as Henley missed from 10 feet for birdie and his first win for five years.

"Yeah, Russell was playing so beautifully the front nine, but at the turn, I was thinking, 'He can't keep this up, can he?'" Matsuyama said. "I was able to birdie 10, and then a two-shot swing at 11 (birdie-bogey) and then the game was on again."

Matsuyama is now top of the FedEx Cup standings having won twice in his last three starts.

"To be able to win back-to-back with ZOZO and here with at the Sony, and especially on a course that I haven't really played that well. It's a tough golf course for me," he said. "So I'm extra excited, extra happy because of that."