Playing his third major, holding a share of eleventh, and within five shots of the leaders. That's the report card for Seamus Power after three days at the US Open in Brookline
Rounds of 71, 70 & 70 mean he is 1 over par and one good round away from another top ten at a major championship.
It's hard to fathom the journey the West Waterford man has been on this past year and a half. The Country Club, Augusta and Southern Hills on major weekends are a far cry from a player who was lining up at Korn Ferry events as recently as April last year. He must wake up the odd morning and question whether it's a dream or not.
Flippancy aside, it's the hard work and graft that he's put in which has got him to this point. That, coupled with a coaching change and some small tweaks to his overall game means that the lad who started out playing in West Waterford golf club is now one of the world's top players and one of Ireland's finest exports currently active on the sporting stage.
Writing in this weekend's Sunday Independent, renowned golf writer Dermot Gilleece noted that the USGA set up their course as the ultimate test of golf and have always maintained "the credo was rather than attempting to embarrass the best players in the world, their objective was to identify them".
Power has accepted the challenge and handed it right back to them as a US Open debutant. The Par 70 at Brookline has proved to be a stern test for former champions and while Power is a hair's breadth away from the very top of the leaderboard and five shots don't count for much in the grand scheme of things.
"It's one of those courses that requires you to be quite accurate and quite exact. When the wind is blowing at 15 miles per hour it makes it tough to do that. It was a fun test out there, it was a nice battle and I hung in there pretty well. Still in good shape for tomorrow" said Power as he addressed the Irish media contingent in Boston. "Overall I'm pleased. I struggled at the start, I was all over the place but then made some nice saves. It was just tough."
Just take a look at some of the players who only got two days of action in the Bay State. Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood and Victor Hovland all sent packing on Friday evening. While the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Brookes Koepka and others are languishing down the bottom of the leaderboard as the Country Club proved too much to handle.
It's not hard to understand the test that has been presented to the field this weekend, but Seamus is one of the few who has handled it well. While Zalatoris and Fitzpatrick top the standings, and with McIlroy well in contention to lift a fifth major title they were all expected to make an impact. As was Jon Rahm who finds himself in sole third spot.
Yes, he may have notched a T9 at the PGA Championship, but the US Open is a different beast and starting odds of 66/1 told you enough of what people expected of him. With one round still to go, we will have to wait and see if he can close it out, but for a name that is now on the lips of far more fans than before the weekend, it's hard to see this train slowing down any time soon.
The story this weekend for Irish sports fans is Power. It's not just the story of the US Open but the story of the journey Seamus has been on these the last 20 months.
Personally, I can't wait to see where the story takes us next.
