Seamus Power finds new lease of life thanks to cortisone injection
Seamus Power. Picture: PGA of America
Seamus Power hopes he’s on his way back to form after a cortisone shot in his injured hip helped him rediscover some of his old magic at Riviera.
The West Waterford man birdied the last in the Genesis Invitational last night to follow a morale-boosting 68 on Friday with a four-under 67 that leaves him tied for 27th with Rory McIlroy heading into today’s final round.
The former Irish amateur teammates are ten strokes behind Patrick Cantlay, who has a two shot lead over Xander Schauffele and Will Zalatoris on 14-under thanks to a third-round 71.
But after suffering a January relapse of the hip injury that marred most of his 2023 season, Power had an injection after the Sony Open and feels on the road to good golf again.
After missing the cut in the Farmers Insurance Open, he was 31st at Pebble Beach and 66th in Phoenix but saw clear signs of improvement this week, with Friday’s 68 to make the cut proving a massive boost after he struggled badly and opened with a 74.
“I really struggled on Thursday, to be honest,” said Power, who took four months off after being eliminated after the second FedEx Cup Playoff event last August.
“So yesterday was great after I went to the range to try to figure some stuff out.
“It's been interesting on the west coast for me because we didn't we didn't really have an off-season.
“So it's kind of an off-season on the fly here, piecing it together a little bit, but getting there.”
The Tooraneena man (36) explained that his hip has been more of a problem than he had hoped when he returned to the tour in January.
“I played in the playoffs and probably shouldn't have. And the first time I was back on the course again was at the end of November and then I did some stuff on the range in December,” he said last night.
“But I didn't play much until really until Maui and then had a bit of a setback with it and had to get a cortisone shot after Sony.
“There was a little recovery after that too, but it's finally feeling better now, so it's now a question of trying to piece everything together so that it feels good and then get everything else dialed in. So it's been a process.
“Rehab has been continuous, but it's actually pretty good. Everyone I've had look at my hip has been pretty pleased with it. So that's been encouraging.
“There's no major damage in there. It got inflamed probably 12 months ago-ish, and then I played on it and just made it worse.
“So a lot of it was just rest and recovery and then because I played on it for so long, I probably wasn't going to recover just with rehab and rest, so I needed a little bit of help.
“It's been great since. So now it's really getting there. It's not really bothering me at all anymore, which it did for the first couple of weeks in Hawaii.
An eagle is hard to come by on the par-4 10th at Riv.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2024
Seamus Power is the first player to card a 2️⃣ this week @TheGenesisInv. pic.twitter.com/dnNjaZUoGc
“So it's been great. Even with the cooler weather being an interesting test, it's been no problem. So yeah, should be 100% now good to go.”
Staring at a missed cut after a first-round 74, he hopes Friday’s 68 proved to be a watershed moment.
“Obviously, the first day was a setback, so yes, it was great,” he said. “I really hit a lot of good shots and this place is tough. I mean, even without a breeze, once you get through 11 and 12 you just can't really miss a shot all the way to the finish.
“And so to get through yesterday was huge. And obviously it was great to build on it a little bit today. And hopefully, I can post another good one tomorrow.”
Power’s third round might have gone downhill after he followed a birdie at the sixth with an eagle two at the iconic 10th but then bogeyed the 15th and 16th and missed a five-footer for a birdie at the 17th.
“It was nice to birdie the last because it was frustrating coming up,” Power said. “I hit some nice shots and then misjudged the lie on 15 and hit a poor iron shot into 16. I had a really good chance to get it back on 17 and missed, so it was nice to snag one of the last.”
As for the eagle at the 10th - the first of the week before Tom Kim followed in his footsteps later in the day - he felt it was a double bonus to see his 33-footer sneak in on its final revolution.
“Yeah, I hit a lovely tee shot, right where you're trying to, just off the green pretty much pin high to 30 feet and it just dropped in,” he said.
“That was a bonus. I think you pick up any shot on that hole it’s nice, but to pick up two was great.”
After falling from a career-high of 28th in the world to 107th this week, Power is not in any of the majors right now and has Augusta on his mind.
“At this stage, I probably have to win an event to get in the Masters,” he said, revealing he’ll take two weeks off and play the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, The Players, the Valspar Championship and the Valero Texas Open to see if he can qualify for the Masters.
If not, he’ll return for the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head the week after the season's opening major and continue his bid to qualify for the US PGA, the US Open and The Open and return to those FedExCup playoffs in rude health.
