POWER PLAY
Seamus in the mix in Detroit after 6 birdies leave him just one off lead... but he has lot of competition
SEAMUS POWER is right in the mix at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic after following up his solid opening round 67 with a six-under par 66 yesterday.
The 33-year-old looks set to contend among a host of big names at Detroit Golf Club in the final two rounds this weekend.
Waterford man Power made three birdies on the front nine – including the second and third holes – and three more followed on the back nine as he did not drop a shot all day.
Of his 66, Power said: “I’m pleased with that. I didn’t quite have my A-game but I was able to manage it pretty well and hit some good shots at the right time.”
Power has yet to win on the PGA Tour and his maiden Web.com Tour victory came in May 2016, before he Ireland at the Rio
Olympics later that year.
This is his eighth start on the PGA Tour this season with his best finish, a tie for 31st place, coming at the Bermuda Championship back in November.
But he will have work cut out to record victory with plenty of competition at the top of the leaderboard.
Bryson Dechambeau birdied his final hole to cap an error free five-under 67 and get to
11-under for the tournament alongside fellow
Americans Matthew Wolff (64),
Mark Hubbard (66) – and Irishman Power. Playing the back nine first, Dechambeau came agonisingly close to completing his round with an ace.
He hit his approach on the par three ninth to within two-feet of the cup, settling for an easy birdie. “Coming off with a clean card today makes me feel really good, and finishing off with a birdie gives me some inspiration for tomorrow to play well,” said Dechambeau, who has posted top eight finishes in all three PGA Tour events since play resumed following a
three represented month shutdown forced by the novel coronavirus outbreak. “To get to my A-game, it’s going to have to be way more comfortable with my driver and more repeatable with my driver.
“Obviously it’s not bad, right, but I feel like there’s another level.”
Wolff, who was also playing the back first, collected six birdies on his outward nine, including a run of six straight from the 14th and through the turn.
He would pick up two more at the third and sixth before his only miscue of the day was taking a bogey at the par four eighth.
Lurking one shot back on a crowded leaderboard are American Kevin Kisner (69), who holed out for eagle from 162 yards on the sixth hole, and Austrian Sepp Straka (66).
Americans Chris Kirk (65) and Webb Simpson (64) lead the way on 12-under.