Power braced for tough weather test at TPC Sawgrass
Séamus Power
SÉAMUS Power is confident he has the trust in his game to perform in The Players and forget about his battle to qualify for the Masters.
The West Waterford man has missed the cut in his last three starts and sits in the hot-seat at 50th in the world with just three weeks to go before the cut-off.
But he insists the mental and technical test provided by Pete Dye's Stadium Course and the bad weather forecast are his biggest worries this week.
"The biggest challenge could end up being the conditions combined with the course," Power said of a forecast for rain, 20 mph winds and temperatures as low as 10 celsius. "It's a great golf course and the conditions will make it tough.
"As for the world ranking, it's not on my mind. It's just something that comes with having climbed the rankings. It's a fun thing to talk about, but if I reach my goals, the rankings take care of themselves. My game is good, and I love the course, so I'm excited to get started."
Power is strong from the tee and so too are 2019 champion Rory McIlroy and the in-form Shane Lowry, who was second in the Honda Classic in his last start.
Lowry finished a career-best eighth behind Justin Thomas last year and should be a factor in bad weather.
McIlroy showed when holding off Jim Furyk to win by a shot in 2019, he has the guts to handle one of the toughest finishes on tour.
"The biggest thing is just trust and commitment," said the world number six, who birdied the 15th and 16th before finishing with two gutsy pars. "It's trusting what you're doing and committing 100 per cent to the shot you're trying to hit, not to try to guide it, not to try to be too careful with it. It's almost like you have to almost let go and give up a little bit of control.
"I think that's when I certainly swing at my best and hit my best golf shots. When I won, I just showed a lot of trust and commitment in myself to hit the shots I needed to hit coming down the stretch to try to win the golf tournament."
Former Ryder Cup skipper Paul McGinley is at Sawgrass for television, and he reckons the weather will make it a huge test of mental strength, decision making and shot-making.
"It's going to test everything from the neck up — that ability to be patient," McGinley said. "Golf is a game of adjustments and when you have volatile weather conditions, adjustments are really key when big decisions have to be made."
On the DP World Tour, Clandeboye's Jonathan Caldwell flies the flag for Irish in South Africa in the MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood.
