Séamus Power’s status on the PGA Tour this season doesn’t come with the luxury of playing his way into the year’s work. Having lost his full card last season, every tournament that comes his way counts more than ever; and the 38-year-old Waterford man continued his good start to the season with a second round 67 to reach the midway point of the Cognizant Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida to move into contention.
A two-time winner on the PGA Tour, most recently in the 2022 Bermuda Championship, Power’s reduced status has put added pressure, but a welcome return to good putting has brought renewed confidence.
“I’ve been putting much, much better,” said Power. “The last couple years been a little bit cold on the greens, which is unusual for me. I’ve got a bit of confidence back on the greens., hitting it okay, still not where I want, but at least I know where it’s going so I can manage it.
“I’m not dropping too many shots, where on holes if there’s trouble on one side, I’m able to at least know how to keep it down the other side. I think that helps here. But obviously making a few putts is huge.”
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Certainly, a second round that brought with it five birdies – on the first, eighth, 10th, 11th and 13th – and just one dropped shot, which came on the difficult Par 3 17th which finishes that stretch of closing holes known as the Bear Trap, provided Power with upward momentum as his 67 moved him up inside the top-15, while Shane Lowry rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th to also sign for a 67 that moved him to five-under-par 137 in tied-sixth.
Lowry’s putting was much improved as the Offaly man moved up more some 29 places from his first round, into contention.
Power, for now, must take what comes his way as far as his scheduling is concerned, but his outings so far have been decent, making all cuts thus far. He finished tied-31st in the Sony Open, tied-63rd in the American Express, and tied-11th in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines to sit 63rd on the FedEx Cup standings starting the Cognizant.
“I know I’m not going to have all the starts this year, so maybe just being a little bit more focused on the ones I do have, and maybe that’s part of it,” he said. “It obviously doesn’t seem like that, but maybe that’s an aspect. But overall, I think I feel like I’m in a very good spot mentally.
“Like someone told me the other day, a good attitude is helped a lot by a good short game, and that’s the way it’s been so far the last couple days. I’ve been able to hang in there, get some up-and-downs, and just keep it going.”
He added: “I’ve always played a lot of my best golf in the summer and (autumn), so it’s nice to get a few points on the board and game trending in the right direction even this time of year.”
Power is headed into the weekend at PGA National – where he qualified through Q-School back in 2014 to get his tour card – with the chance to contend and to make a move up the FedEx Cup standings.
“It’s a tough golf course, it doesn’t let you get comfortable really at any stage, and I think that’s unique about this place. Even holes that just don’t seem that tough on the scorecard, but if you’ve got a crosswind and you’ve got this and you’ve got that and you just miss it, it’s very, very tricky.
“It’s a really good layout for that. It’s going to test everyone for the (weekend). But it’s nice to be in under par, and two more good rounds over the weekend needed, but obviously it’s nice to be in there.”
