Power looking forward to "another crack at the PGA”
Seamus Power of Ireland plays a stroke from the No. 4 tee during the final round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 9, 2023.
Séamus Power is looking forward to the PGA Championship next week after making four birdies in his last five holes in a five-under-par 66 to move into the top 25 at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas.
The West Waterford man turned in three-under 32 at TPC Craig Ranch and while he slipped back to the cut line with bogeys at the third and fourth, he birdied the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth to move to within seven shots of Scottie Scheffler at halfway.
“It was frustrating again for a while,” said Power, who is tied 26th. “I did a lot of good things on the back— my front— and then a couple of sloppy mistakes put me in a poor spot.
“But it was a nice finish and it at least kind of gives me a chance of holding on to some of these guys.
“It's just one of those of courses you also have to make some putts and I didn't do much until the last few holes.”
Power bounced back after a few lean weeks with a top 20 finish in the Wells Fargo Championship and he’s now looking forward the PGA Championship having finished xxth on his debut at Southern Hills last year.
“I played nicely last week and I’ve done a lot of good stuff so far this week,” Power said. “Obviously this a different golf to what we're going face next week, but everything is starting to feel pretty good. So I’m looking forward to seeing Oak Hill and having another crack at the PGA.”
World number two Scheffler fired a second successive, seven-under 64 to lead by a shot on 14-under from Texan Ryan Palmer (65) and Mackenzie Hughes (64).
At the first senior major, the Regions Tradition, Ernie Els shot 66 to lead by a shot in the clubhouse from Paul Broadhurst on 10-under.
Padraig Harrington birdied four of his last eight holes to shoot 69 and lurks just three shots behind Els in a tie for fifth with Darren Clarke three shots further back, tied for 16th on four-under, also after a 69.
On the DP World Tour, Kinsale's John Murphy ended a run of 12 successive missed cuts when he overcame three dropped shots in his first two holes and carded a level par 71 to make the two-under cut on the mark in the Soudal Open in Belgium.
He's nine shots behind Sweden's Simon Forsstrom, whose 67 gave him a one-shot lead over France's Jeong weon Ko as Gary Hurley missed the cut by four shots after a 73.
On the LET, Olivia Mehaffey shot a second successive 75 to miss the six-over par cut by two strokes in the Jabra Ladies Open at Evian Resort where the Netherlands' Ann Van Dam shot 70 and Sweden's Linn Grant a 67 to lead by two shots on seven-under.
Stephanie Meadow also missed the cut in the Cognizant Founders Cup, dropping three shots in her last four holes as she carded a pair of 74s to miss the cut by three shots.
Australia’s Sarah Kemp shot 65 and Korea’s Jin Young Ko a 68 to lead by a shot on eight-under from India’s Aditi Ashok, Australia’s Minjee Lee Korrea’s Hae Ran Ryu,
