Seamus Power twice drove into water at the 18th and slipped from contention into the pack when he closed with a triple bogey seven in the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.

On a day when world number one Scottie Scheffler failed to produce the mistake-free golf that’s inspired Rory McIlroy and carded a rollercoaster 69, Power signed for a level par 71 that left him tied for 67th when play was suspended.

Looking to build on his tie for 17th in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week, the Tooraneena man (37) opened with 12 pars in a row before birdies at the 13th, 14th and 16th catapulted him into contention.

Distater struck at the 436-yard 18th however as he drove into the water left and had no choice but to re-tee.

He again found water left with his tee shot but while his ball crossed further up the penalty area, allowing him to drop 184 yards from the pin, he hit his fifth to 20 feet and two putted for a triple bogey seven.

His final hole mishap saw him sign for a level par 71 and drop from inside the top 10 to joint 67th on level par, seven shots behind clubhouse leader Wyndham Clark

Scheffler also endured a difficult day in the desert as he made three bogeys and a birdie on his front nine, then holed a 104-yard fairway bunker shot for an eagle two at the 10th.

But he too found water on the way home, hitting his tee shot into the penalty area to run up a double-bogey at the 199-yard 12th to slip to two-over.

He rallied in typical Scheffler fashion, however, and followed a birdie four at the 13th with an eagle three from eight feet at the 15th before rolling in a 24-footer for another birdie at the 17th.

His 69 left him tied for 27th on two-under, five strokes behind former US Open champion Clark, who carded a bogey-free, seven-under 64 to lead by a shot from Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges.

“I haven't played my best golf the last few weeks, so it's nice to kind of have a clean round where we did a lot of good things,” Clark said.  

“I was really patient and kind of eased my way into the round.”

He added: “Yes, it sucks that I played poorly last week and missed the cut at Amex, but you never know when good golf is around the corner, and I feel like my game has been good.  

“I just haven't been scoring, so it was nice to have some putts go in and shoot a good number.”