Power has the glory.. & certainty
SEAMUS POWER pocketed more than €530,000 after winning his first PGA Tour event at the
Barbasol Championship on Sunday.
The Waterford man beat American JT Poston on the sixth hole of their sudden death play-off (below) after both men finished on 21-under-par for the tournament at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
It was a first win on the tour for the 34-year-old on his 106th start.
Power’s prize money payout of $630,000 from a purse of $3.5million tops his previous largest pay check in his five years on tour, $231,150 for his sixth-place finish at the 2019 RBC Heritage.
Even more importantly, though, the win sees Power move from 123rd in the Fedex rankings to 69th and gives him a full exemption through to the 2022-23 season.
He also bags a spot at next season’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Players Championship and the PGA Championship.
“I probably have to take three days to kind of figure out some goals,” said Power after the victory. “Probably two months ago, just to get into the Fedex Cup play-offs I would have been absolutely over the moon.
“I had a good round of golf but the win is obviously a two-year exemption. Someone said I’m in The Players and PGA Championship and that kind of stuff so everything’s going to change at least for the immediate future.
“I haven’t really let that sink in yet, it’s just kind of still hitting me that I’m holding this trophy. They’re all kind of good things I’ll have to deal with here soon.
“It was an incredible day. I started out knowing I was going to need a low one. To be honest, I didn’t think five under would be low enough but I was able to pick one up on the last, squeeze into a play-off and eventually pulled through there.
“The first hole there was very exciting to get the chip-in and JT to follow. You’re trying to tell yourself he’s going to make it but deep down it’s a little bit already thinking ahead.
“I was able to stay patient enough there and JT made just one mistake and I was able to take advantage. It was an unbelievable day – career changing, life changing – all that kind of good stuff. It’s not going to sink in for a while.”