Harrington: "My simple advice to Seamus is that he keeps on doing what he is doing"

Séamus Power and Pádraig Harrington at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

Pádraig Harrington has no doubt Séamus Power will be joining him in the Masters and urged the West Waterford man to change nothing now he's made the world's top 50.

World No. 49 Power, who will be seeking his second PGA Tour win in The American Express at La Quinta this week, refuses to think too much about Augusta National as he's vulnerable to falling out of the top 50 before the March 28 cut-off.

However, Harrington has no such doubts and urged the Waterford man to change nothing, especially his schedule as he chases that dream ticket.

"My simple advice to Seamus is that he keeps on doing what he is doing", Harrington said during a practice round for this week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry also start their seasons.

"Seamus is easily good enough to be teeing-up at Augusta National and as we are now seeing, he is trusting in his ability.

"There's no need to go chasing tournaments to try and qualify, so he just needs to stick with his normal schedule and whatever works best for him, and there's no point in adding or taking away."

Power finished tied third behind Hideki Matsuyama in the Sony Open last weekend, and Harrington is impressed by his former Olympic teammate.

"It was another great result for Seamus, and I'm really delighted for him," Harrington said. "I've said before he's always been a very good player and just lacked a little bit of self-belief, but the win at the Barbasol and some other great performances have given him that belief.

"He now feels he's comfortable and relaxed, and he's certainly delivering."

Surprised to learn the Masters will be Power's first Major, Harrington said: "Wow! What a first major to be contesting in your career, though. As I said, he's unlucky not to have been in the Masters already, given his PGA Tour win.

"Anyway, he looks assured of correcting that as he should get into some of the bigger events in the countdown to the Masters such as The Players and there's also the Match-Play, and they're huge Word Ranking points events.

"So, stick to what he's doing and he's sure to be heading to Augusta.”

Shane Lowry was thrilled to see Power break into the world’s top 50 this week and hopes to see him at the Masters.

“Yeah, obviously I've known Seamus a long time. I played amateur golf with him,” Lowry said. “We're the same age. What owes done and the perseverance he showed over the last short of ten or 15 years is incredible. He's getting the rewards now and I'm delighted for him.

“He's obviously played some great golf in the last few weeks and the last few months and got his first win on the PGA TOUR last year, and I did say it at the end of last year, I don't feel like he gets the credit he deserves for what he's out there doing.

I think he's starting to get that credit now, and hopefully -- you know, I actually just said it to Paddy yesterday and Rory. We were playing a practice round and I said, "It would be nice to have another Irishman at Augusta." So I'm sure that's his goal over the next few months and hopefully, he can be there.”