Séamus Power is sitting in the covered balcony of The K Club overlooking the 18th green. In another six weeks or so, he hopes to walk on to the same green with the prospect of lifting the Waterford Crystal trophy that goes to the winner of the Horizon Irish Open. But, for now, his thoughts are on a two-week mini-break from tour life before getting into the meat of things on the PGA Tour for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
He’s definitely in the limited fields for the St Jude Classic in Memphis and the BMW Championship in Chicago and the goal is to also make it all the way to the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. If he were to do that, Power hopes it will have the effect of also embellishing his Ryder Cup prospects given how many world ranking points will be available in his blue chip tournaments to finish off the PGA Tour season.
Power, as ever, is relaxed. It doesn’t seem to matter whether he is standing over a six-footer to save par or preparing to hit an iron over an ocean of water to an island green, his demeanour is one that gives little away. Always focused. Always playing to his strengths.
Thankfully, the hip injury that emerged in the recent Scottish Open, forcing his withdrawal in the first round, has eased. He will undergo further physical therapy on returning to his US base in Las Vegas next week to ensure he is fully fit heading into the playoffs and, beyond that, to the Irish Open at The K Club on September 7th-10th. That will be followed by the BWM PGA Championship at Wentworth and, if all goes to plan, the Ryder Cup in Rome at the end of September.
“When it popped in Scotland, I thought my season might have been done. So, when the MRI came back clean, I was delighted and they changed the treatment, it was like night and day last week [in Hoylake]. It’s very encouraging now and having two weeks off has come at a nice time. This week I won’t do much and then back into practice next week. I’ll be back to 100 per cent in Memphis, which is nice,” said Power.
Getting starts in those FedEx Cup playoff tournaments will also probably give Power an edge over other potential European Ryder Cup players who are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to automatic qualification. The DP World Tour goes into a fairly quiet period (with a two-week gap before the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Galgorm Castle starts a three-week stretch that also includes the Czech Masters and the European Masters), especially compared with the size of the US events.
With regard to Ryder Cup qualifying, failing to make any inroads in either Scotland or Royal Liverpool, Power said: “The last couple of weeks were disappointing but you do have that up your sleeve [playing in the FedEx Cup events] where there’s going to be a lot of points at stake.
“And it’s unusual in Europe because they have that time off ... there’s not really a cut-off, it’s going to be based on whether you get picked or not, whereas with the FedEx Cup, I know if I play ‘x’ amount well, then I’ll get to a certain place. So I’m going to go down that road and focus on that. I’ve never made it [to East Lake] and that was the big goal at the start of the year, so that will continue to be that way.”
What does he need to do to force his way back into an automatic place on Luke Donald’s team by September 3rd, when qualifying ends? “I’d have to be flirting with winning in one of those first [two] events. It’s hard to tell but I would say I’d have to be close to winning one of those first couple and definitely need to be in Atlanta, anyway. We’ll see.”
If not, the cushion is a captain’s pick. And, after playing two or hopefully three of those FedEx Cups, it’ll be back to home shores for the Irish Open at a venue where he is the touring professional and wears the badge of honour on his bag.
“To get your name anywhere on that trophy would be something special. I know all the cool stuff that has happened over the last 20 years, it’s hard to stop thinking about those scenes of Shane [Lowry] in Baltray or even Pádraig [Harrington, in Adare Manor]. Obviously Rory [McIlroy] had won so much it was almost as if it didn’t seem quite as big because he has always won, but that video of him hitting into 18 there ... it will just be so special,” said Power of adding his name to that list of Irish Open home winners.
And the field for the tournament on the Palmer Ryder Cup course was strengthened with the announcement that PGA Tour players Billy Horschel and Min Woo Lee, along with Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Donald, have been confirmed to play.
