Power targeting big finish in Mississippi
ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 01: Richard Mansell of England tees off on the 15th hole on Day Three of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links on October 01, 2022 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Seamus Power believes he can make a charge in Mississippi after an inspired putting performance left him eight shots off the pace heading into the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship.
The West Waterford man opened with a brace of 71s to share 43rd at the Country Club of Jackson at halfway.
But he caught fire alongside Canadian Adam Hadwin in Saturday's third round, reeling off eight birdies, including four in his last five holes, in a 67 that moves him to 25th on seven-under-par.
"It was an interesting day, kind of up and down," Power said after mixing bogey sixes at the fifth and 11th and a bogey four at the 13th with birdies at the sixth, seventh, 10th and 12th before finishing with birdies at the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th to move into the top 25.
"I made a couple of mistakes, and I had a couple of six on par-fives, but I had a great finish there, and I made a lot of putts.”
Admitting he was inspired by Hadwin, who had six birdies in a 67 to join him on seven-under, Power added: "It's always great when you see some putts go in."I got off to a slow start, but Adam was making some birdies, and that kind of got me going a little bit, and it helped the two of us shoot five-under in the end."
Mark Hubbard shot a seven-under 65 to lead by a shot from Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes on 15-under as he seeks his maiden win. But Power knows that at seven-under, he can put pressure on the unheralded Hubbard with a fast start.
"I've got to go out and try and be aggressive tomorrow and shoot another low score," Power said after finishing some six hours before the leaders. "You're trying to move up as high as you can, and realistically, I'm guessing the lead is going to be about 15 under and hopefully no more than that.
"So I am still going to be a long way back. But I feel very good with the putter. Maybe if I can go out there and make a few putts and don't make any mistakes. I have an outside chance."
On the DP World Tour, Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlroy are also eight shots off the lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
Harrington shot a three-under 69 and McIlroy a 66 on the Old Course to leave them tied 11th behind England's Richard Mansell, who shot 67 at St Andrews to lead by four shots from Daniel Gavins, Alex Noren and New Zealander Ryan Fox on 15-under par.
McIlroy’s father Gerry shot five-under on the front nine and they made the top 20 who survived the cut, tied 11th on 22-under, eight shots off the lead in the Pro-Am.
“The way this golf course is, St Andrews right now, I find it hard to see how someone doesn't go out there and shoot a couple under,” McIlroy said. “But if I can go out a shoot a low one, but -- yeah, if I could maybe get to the number that Richard's on right now, 15, shoot 8-under tomorrow, at least you'd go out and you'd have to make him shoot under par. I guess I could go out and that would be a decent target.”
Shane Lowry missed the 54-hole cut by three shots on two-over after a third-round 69 with Jonathan Caldwell five shots further back after a 75.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow made two birdies and a bogey in a third-round 70 to lie 10 shots behind China's Xiyu Lin and England's Charley Hull in the Ascendant LPGA benefiting the Volunteers of America in Dallas.
She's tied 34th on one-under as Hull shot 71 and Lin a 69 to lead by a shot from France's Celine Boutier and New Zealand's Lydia Ko on 11-under.
On the Challenge Tour, Rosapenna's Ruaidhri McGee is just five shots behind Sweden's Joel Sjoholm heading into the final round of the Hopps Open de Provence.
The Derry man (31) shot a 69 to share ninth place on seven-under while Holywood's Tom McKibbin (19), who is 14th in the race for 20 DP World Tour cards, moved up to tied 18th on five-under after a 66.
Portmarnock's Conor Purcell (25), who only made the cut on the mark, shot 66 to up to 25th on four-under.
