Seamus Power withdraws with back trouble in Georgia as Leona Maguire slips backs in Tour Championship

Seamus Power called a premature end to 2024 when he withdrew from The RSM Classic in Georgia with a back injury.

The West Waterford man tweaked his back in an opening four over 76 on the Plantation Course at Sea Island, but struggling with his long clubs, he decided discretion was the better part of valour just four holes into his second round.

Starting on the back nine on the Seaside Course, he made up for a bogey at the 11th by brushing in a 60-footer for a birdie two at the 12th.

But he found he was struggling to turn and withdrew after he found water twice on the 13th and made a quadruple bogey eight that left him near the back of the field on eight-over-par.

Tournament host Davis Love III (60) also withdrew during the second round with a wrist injury as he followed an opening 82 with an eight over front nine.

Power went into the event ranked 55th in the FedExCup Fall standings and appears safe in his bid to finish the year in the 51st-60th band, clinching Signature Event starts in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

At the top of the leaderboard, Utah’s Patrick Fishburn (32) shot an eight-under 64 on the Plantation layout to lead by a shot from Maverick McNealy and Lee Hodges on 11-under-par.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg also enjoyed a good day, following an opening 73 with an eight-under 64 on the Plantation Course to make the cut in his first start back since undergoing knee surgery.

The European Ryder Cup star was four under after ten holes before finishing birdie, birdie, eagle, par to move up to joint 17th on five-under.

“Yeah, very different,” Aberg said. “It was a little bit easier today, it felt like. But no, it was nice. I felt like even though yesterday the score wasn't very good, I still felt like there was some good things in there. 

“So I kept holding onto that last night and this morning and came out today and played a lot better golf.”

At the LPGA Tour’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, Leona Maguire fell back as world number one Nelly Korda raced into contention in the battle for the biggest first prize in the history of women’s golf.

Tied for 44th after an opening 72, the US star fired a six-under 66 to move up to joint fourth on six-under as she seeks her eighth win of a remarkable season and a historic $4 million payday.

“I just hit it a little better,” said Korda, who holed an eight iron for an eagle two at the third and added four birdies in a bogey-free effort to share fourth with Jeeno Thitikul, Ruoning Yin, Amy Yang and Ayaka Furue on six-under.

“Made a few more putts. I went to the range for probably 30 minutes after my round and tried to find a different feel than what I had yesterday.”

She's five shots behind Angel Yin, who carded a 69 to lead by two shots from Korean duo Hye-Jin Choi and Narin An on 10-under.

It was a far tougher day for Cavan star Maguire, who was 17th overnight after a fine 69.

The Ballyconnell native struggled to hit greens and made four birdies, six bogeys and a double bogey in a rollercoaster 76 to fall to 52nd in the 60-strong field on one-over-par.