Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Shane and Seamus are sure to feel shaken and stirred now
SHANE LOWRY and Seamus Power will both seek out one of golf’s golden tickets at this week’s Wyndham Championship.
The stakes couldn’t be higher as they head into the final regular event of the PGA Tour season with their playing rights in the States hanging in the balance.
Only the top-125 players on the Fedex Cup points table make the cut so both men have work to do to with time running out.
Power has less to do on the final stop of the 2017/18 campaign as he is currently ranked 123rd.
He could miss the cut at Greensboro and still be safe for next year – but it’s a dangerous game to play.
Nobody knows what it will take over the weekend and he can’t rely on others around him slipping up.
Lowry is currently 139th – up 17 places on the previous week.
As things stand he needs at least a top-15 finish to avoid losing his fully exempt status.
A T12 finish at the US PGA banked him plenty of confidence and €162,157 in winnings, but he will be cursing back-to-back bogeys at the 16th and 17th on Sunday.
If he’d parred them, he would be safe.
As it is, it’s now a case of all or nothing at Wyndham.
Going into the final event of the year with your card on the line is stressful, but professional golf is a tough business and it’s dog eat dog at the top end of the sport.
Lowry has the cushion of knowing he has secured his card in Europe next year, so that gives him an option looking forward.
He also boasts good form, with a T12, T15 and T12 in his last three outings.
He believes his mojo is back, but he knows he can’t afford sloppy golf this week.
Like a football team playing for a draw, he also can’t afford to start calculating potential finishes.
He has to take a winning attitude to Greensboro.
As Tiger once famously said, winning takes care of everything.
Shane has bags of talent, but he hasn’t won enough.
Only two wins as a professional is a poor return for a player of his quality, although I do think the pressurised spotlight this week will inspire him.
I wish the boys well. I also empathise with them.
I remember only too vividly from my own playing career the awful experience of having to save my card with time running out and it brings back dark memories.
When your livelihood is on the line, it’s excruciating.
Sleepless nights, the shakes and an empty feeling in your stomach follow you around all week.
If they get the job done, the relief felt by Shane and Seamus will be immense.
Seamus could possibly afford to miss cut but it’s dangerous