Seamus Power plays a shot on the 11th hole during the first round at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)

Séamus Power has made a massive leap from 463rd to 32nd in the world over the last 19 months, but the recently crowned Butterfield Bermuda Championship winner is targeting a Major win next year as he seeks his Ryder Cup debut under Luke Donald.

Speaking from the El Camaleón Golf Course in Mexico, where he will again be one of the favourites for this week's World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Power insisted he's looking to put himself in the mix for one of golf's four Majors in 2023 as a springboard to automatic Ryder Cup selection or one of six wildcards.

"Yeah, I mean absolutely," Power (35) said when asked if he felt he could win a Major, having finished tied 27th in the Masters, tied ninth in the US PGA and joint 12th in the US Open this year.

"That's the only reason you're going to play. Obviously the microscope is bigger and the pressure's going to be a lot bigger. But I saw last summer my game held up really well.

"I felt like I played very well in the Masters, couldn't get my putter going, but I really felt I played very well in the US Open and the PGA. To see my game kind of hold up under those kinds of conditions was very encouraging.

"Depending on the courses and that sort of stuff, I feel like if I can get myself in a good spot, I should have at least an opportunity to win on Sunday. I haven't really experienced that in a major yet, so who knows, but that's definitely the goal -- to give yourself a chance with nine holes to go and see what happens."

While the Ryder Cup qualifying period ends the weekend before the Horizon Irish Open, which has been moved from early July to September 7-10, Power knows grabbing one of three spots in the European team via the Ryder Cup World Points list could depend on the Majors.

"I only had a brief conversation with Luke last week, but I didn't get into all that much," admitted Power, who confessed his phone has been in meltdown since winning in Hamilton on Sunday to secure a PGA Tour exemption until the end of 2025 and starts in all the big PGA Tour events next year.

"Rory and Jon Rahm or Viktor Hovland, they rack up so many points. I feel like to get one of those, you probably have to at least be very close to winning a major, certainly like a solo second or something.

"To be honest, I'm still in the same spot, I think where those world points are going to be very difficult. And for me, the European spots would be very difficult to get also.

"But there are six wildcard spots, and I know if I can play well and continue to kind of have good results, I'd at least be in the, whatever you call it, in the group for picks. Yeah, that's still going to be the goal. It's still early on in the process, but to get a win and get on the radar a little bit more was a nice bonus."

Currently eighth in the World Points list, Power has decided to stick with his Fall Series schedule and play Mayakoba this week and the RSM Classic at Sea Island in a fortnight before shutting down until the New Year.

He will resume at the winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua from January 5-8 but admits his January schedule is up in the air right now as he prepares to decide where to play with the new Hero Cup -- a new version of the old Seve Cup between Continental Europe and Great Britain and Ireland -- high on his list of priorities at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from January 13-15.

"I won't be able to play them all because, as I said, I start in Maui now, which is obviously the other side of the world, so that kind of changes it," Power said of a January schedule that offers the chance to play the Sony Open, where he was third last year, the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as well as the Middle East Swing on the DP World Tour.

"If I was going over there (to Abu Dhabi), I definitely would try to play an event after the team event," said Power, who has received messages of congratulations from Donald and former Ryder Cup skippers Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley as well as a phone call from Shane Lowry. "It's a long travel for one week."

While the Irish Open will not count towards Ryder Cup points, Power can't want to play at The K Club as its touring professional with an appearance at Wentworth likely the week before.

"I'm sure they were like talking to Rory and guys like that," he said of the date change from July to September. "They're the guys they're going to make sure they're going to have there. Hopefully, it adds something to the field, but no matter what the date is, if I have the option of playing, I'll definitely be there. It's going to be a very exciting week."

Having languished at 463rd in the world in March 2021 and soared to a career-high of 32nd this week, the Tooraneena native insists he's got higher ambitions and reaching the top 25 in the world is one of his goals for the remainder of the PGA Tour season.

"I still have big goals," he said."As soon as I won a 300-point event (in Kentucky last year), the goal was to win a full 500-point event, so obviously, Bermuda knocks that one out. But I still have other big goals for the season.

"I will reset them, obviously, at least to a certain extent, but I wanted to finish the season in the top 25 in the world, making Ryder Cup is obviously a huge one, and I've never gotten to the Tour Championship, so that's another big one that I want to reach. This helps on all fronts. It's a great start to the season, so we'll see if we can continue."

Donald will be tasked with picking the Hero Cup team, and Power is keen to do everything he can to make it easy for the Englishman to pick him should he fail to qualify automatically for Rome.

"I actually used to really enjoy watching (the Seve Trophy)," he said. "I don't remember actually why they got rid of it, but it sounds like it's going to be something very similar.

"We grew up playing so much match play and stuff. I don't watch a ton of golf on TV, but I always used to enjoy that. Obviously, Ryder Cups and something like that obviously at a different level even, but I always thought it was very entertaining.

"And I think it's good for Luke maybe to figure out some ideas for partnerships and even just having guys get to know each other a little bit more and that sort of stuff for the Ryder Cup. So it will be something that will be very cool to be part of it."

Getting his schedule right is going to be crucial and he plans to speak to Donald as well as Harrington and McGinley about what to play as he doesn't want to dirty his copybook.

"I remember even like when I was in Rio, I remember Paul McGinley, I'm not going to name names, but he was telling me a golfer that he would have gotten a pick if he had gone and showed a little bit more interest in, I think it was an event in Denmark close before the Ryder Cup and the player didn't go and he didn't get the pick," Power recalled.

"So I definitely don't want a situation like that, so I'm definitely going to talk to Luke, for sure. I'm going to try to talk to Paul and Pádraig as well, you know, both being captains before and what they would like to see from a guy who's based in the US but still wants to play in the Ryder Cup. Before I finalise any schedule, I'm definitely going to talk to those guys and see what we kind of come up with."

As for the rewards that come with winning on Sunday, Power sees his exemption until the end of 2025 as huge, not forgetting the guaranteed starts in every big PGA Tour event next year, including all the "enhanced" $20 million tournaments.

Just 19 months ago, he was outside the world's top 450 and Monday qualifying to boost his schedule, but he insists he never doubted he could get to the very top and credits his decision to hook up with Cork-born caddie Simon Keelan as key.

"I always say I generally believed deep down I was good enough to win, so it didn't seem that far away, but obviously to actually have done it and to have the two wins on paper is still huge," Power admitted. "Just have the exemptions and all that; it's just amazing.

"There wasn't a point where I didn't think I could get here, but obviously, from the outside, it probably did look like that. It's so nice, it's a good 18 months of golf and I feel like I'm still on a good track, so hopefully, I can keep it up for a bit longer."

He pointed to his elbow surgery at the end of 2020, incremental improvements in his game and his decision to consult Dr Bob Rotella as some of the critical factors in his rise to the top.

But he admits his relationship with caddie Keelan, a PGA professional who first caddied for his as a favour in the Canadian Open in 2019, has been a game changer.

"So it's only a shot here and there, so if you can just get a little bit better around the edges," he said. "I always say some of the mental stuff, you can never be a good enough putter so make sure your putting's always improving. I just found myself in a much better spot on the course, especially with Simon there to help. All those kinds of little things all came together at the same time, and I think it just really helped me get going.

"You know, I had a really good caddie before, John Rathouz, but having the Irish connection to me has been huge. Just it's a little bit more easygoing. As any Irish person will know, we have a slightly different sense of humour; we're always kind of making fun of each other to a certain extent. Just having that easy over and back is very, very good.

"And Simon's a very good golfer himself and I like having that on the bag. I know he's played a lot of high-level golf when he was younger. So having all those things and just getting on so well together, I think it's massive.

"Everything's always great when things are going well, but on those weeks where it's not there, and you're really trying to grind to make a cut or really trying to hang on towards the end of the tournament, but it's not going well like he's massive in those situations. Yeah, it's been a big addition for the last few years now."