Power enters Omega European Masters; McKibbin's comeback
Daniel Brown of England tees off on the 10th hole on Day Two of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics at Galgorm Castle Golf Club on August 18, 2023 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Seamus Power's Ryder Cup hopes look to be hanging by a thread after he slipped to the bottom of the field in the BMW Championship in Chicago.
The West Waterford star, who battled a hip injury at The Open, looked in discomfort at Olympia Fields as he bogeyed the last and carded a two-over par 72 to sit at the foot of the leaderboard on eight-over.
Power was 49th in the 50-man field, but only because Japan's Hideki Matsuyama withdrew with a back injury before the start yesterday.
The Tooraneena man needs to finish in a two-way tie for 12th to jump from 35th in the top 30 in the FedExCup standings and qualify for next week's Tour Championship.
That looks impossible now, and with automatic qualification out of reach, he will be relying on getting one of Luke Donald's six wildcards and hoping to impress the Englishman in the final-counting Omega European Masters in two weeks.
He hit just one green in regulation on the front nine and turned in five over 40 before following a run of four birdies in a row from the 12th — holing putts of eight feet, 18 feet, 26 feet and 66 feet — before finishing with a bogey.
American Chris Kirk shot a second successive 66 to lead by three shots in the clubhouse from Scottie Scheffler (69) and Rickie Fowler (69) on eight-under.
In the ISPS HANDA World Invitational, Tom McKibbin, Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire were the only Irish players to make the cut.
McKibbin followed an eight-over 78 at Galgorm with a sensational six-under 65 at Castlerock to make the weekend with a shot to spare.
"I think I just went out there today and tried to go for everything," said McKibbin after a seven-birdie round left him tied for 38th on two-over, 13 strokes behind England's Dan Brown, whose four-under 66 at Galgorm left him six clear of Alex Fitzpatrick and Spain's Angel Hidalgo.
"I mean, I was down near last, so it couldn't get any worse, really. So I just sort of went for everything, went for every par four that was reachable and went for all the par fives. And luckily it just paid off."
Meadow shot a two-over 73 at Castlerock to share 23rd on two-over, five shots behind American Marissa Steen, while Maguire struggled again on the greens and shot a three-over 75 at Galgorm to lie 32nd on three-over.
On the Challenge Tour, Jack McDonald will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge.
The Scot followed a career-low, eight under 63 with a 65 to lead by a shot on 14-under par from Finland's Lauri Ruuska, who followed his sensational 59 with a 70.
Five of the six-strong Irish challenge made the cut with Paul McBride's 67 leaving him just seven shots off the pace in a tie for 12th.
Conor Purcell (67) is two shots further back in 24th with Jonathan Yates (67) 38th on four-under and Conor O'Rourke (71) 58th on the three-under cut mark thanks to a closing birdie four.
In amateur golf, Carton House's Keith Egan birdied four of his last six holes to card a four-under 66 to set the pace after the opening round of the AIG Irish Men's Amateur Close at Malone.
He leads by two strokes from Castle's Robert Moran and Belvoir Park's Simon Ward.
