Power back in the mix after super 65 in Kapalua
Seamus Power
Seamus Power blasted an eight-under 65 to roar into contention for the Sentry Tournament of Champions but insisted he might need to repeat the trick twice more to contend for his second PGA Tour win.
The West Waterford man shook off the ring rust that cost him three penalty shots in a two-under 71 on Thursday and made two eagles and four birdies in a bogey-free round on the Plantation Course at Kapalua to finish the day in a seven-man logjam for eighth place on 10-under par.
He's seven shots behind overnight leader Cameron Smith of Australia and with a top-three finish set to propel him into the world's top 50 and a potential Masters debut and a win guaranteeing him a spot at Augusta National, he's looking to produce more of the same at the weekend.
"It's great to get to 10-under after the second round, but you're not winning this unless you're somewhere in the 20s (under par), you know," Power said.
"So it doesn't leave me a lot of margin of error after yesterday, I kind of knew that. Today was a good step to getting back into it, but I'm going to need two more of something similar to give me a chance."
The Tooraneena native (34) was struggling to keep his PGA Tour card just eight months ago, but he culminated a red-hot streak of form with a maiden PGA TOUR win in the Barbasol Championship in July and hasn't looked back.
At one stage during Friday's second round, he was tied for second with reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, PGA champion Phil Mickelson and US Open champion Jon Rahm and looked comfortable among them.
One of the longest players on tour, he rediscovered his driving mojo last night, eliminating the left miss that cost him four shots in the first round.
While he missed a four-footer for birdie at the third, he made amends by going birdie-eagle-birdie from the fourth, then made hay at the remaining three par-fives by following a birdie at the ninth with an eagle at the 15th and another birdie from 10 feet at the last.
"Three loose swings yesterday cost me four or five shots and that was basically the difference between yesterday and today," the West Waterford man explained. "It was all around a good round. I made a couple of eagles on the par-fives, couple putts that could have been here or there, but overall it was very steady, didn't miss a whole lot, wasn't really in trouble at all, hit a lot of greens, and yeah, I got a nice putt there on the last to finish it off."
As for that hot streak from the fourth, he said: "It was actually funny because I hit it very close on three and missed from maybe four feet for birdie, so I was kind of disappointed.
"But I hit another good drive up No. 4 and had a good number for a 9-iron. Hit it into maybe seven or eight feet and I was able to knock it in.
"Then on five, obviously getting the eagle, I hit a good tee shot. Again, I was lucky. I left myself a very good number and hit one of the best shots of the day, a nice five-iron into, it was close, maybe three feet.
"Six was playing tougher today back into the wind, hit a good tee shot again and hit a flighted 9-iron that was probably 25 feet and was able to knock it in.
"It was a stretch. I had a good chance at the start of it on three and I just missed on seven, but it's kind of got me going into the round and back into the tournament a little bit."
He fired a hard five iron to 12 feet at the 15th and rolled that in for his second eagle of the day to briefly share the lead with Sam Burns (64), Matsuyama (65), Berger (66) and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka (68), then knocked in a 10 footer for birdie at the 18th.
"I've been watching this tournament on TV for years, and it's where you want to be. It's an amazing place to start the year out," he said. "It's just a different vibe to any tournaments I've ever played, so I'm delighted to be a part of it."
He's also feeling good about his game after tidying up his driving and getting a feel for the greens.
"I was much more in control today," he said. "Maybe I was a little bit rusty yesterday coming out of the gate, so it felt much better today and it's a fun course to play. I really like the greens, so it's a nice combination for me.
"I think it suits my game pretty well. I'm driving as well, which is obviously massive here because it's quite long, especially with the softness and I really like the greens. I feel like I'm seeing the lines pretty well, so hopefully, that's a good combination for the weekend."
Overnight leader Smith bogeyed the first two holes but regrouped and followed an eagle at the fifth with nine birdies, adding a 64 to his opening 65 to lead by three strokes from Berger and world No. 1 Jon Rahm (66) on 17-under par.
Cantlay was a shot further back in solo fourth on 13-under after a 67 but world No. 2 Collin Morikawa could only manage a 70 that left him tied 22nd, nine shots off the lead.
