Jordan Norris reports
Waterford’s Séamus Power has won his first PGA Tour tournament, having overcome JT Poston in the sixth hole of a thrilling play-off at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky, USA.
The 34-year-old Touraneena native has been in fantastic form of late, and carded a -5 round on Sunday, including a fantastic birdie at the 18th to post the clubhouse lead.
With Poston comfortably ahead at one point, an out of bounds effort at the 15th saw the long time leader‘s challenge unravel, eventually leading to both men settling for a -21 finish. An hour before the playoff, Touraneena man Power was 250/1 with some bookmakers to win the title.
With Power seeking a maiden tour victory and Poston searching for his second following success at the Wyndham Championship in 2019, the players would play the last hole 18th twice, before moving to the par 3 9th twice again, and back to the 18th before they were eventually separated at the sixth attempt.
In a thrilling first playoff hole, 2016 Olympian, Power, chipped in his shot at the edge of the green for a birdie, but Poston showed nerves of steel to sink his putt moments later. Both men had shots to win the tournament but couldn’t be separated as they continued to save face with the pressure at its highest.
It was at the 6th attempt that Power overcame ‘The Postman’, whose tee shot found the water, resulting in a one stroke penalty. Power calmly found the fairway before firing a dart to the centre of the green, his competitors woes leaving him 2 putts for PGA Tour glory.
The Touraneena man ran his approach close, and tapped in from mere inches to rapturous applause from the crowd and a career-changing victory.
Having played under conditional card status given his finish outside the top 125 of last year’s FedEx Cup rankings, Power is now guaranteed a card for the forthcoming two seasons, as well as qualification for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, The Players Championship and the PGA Championship next year.
The West Waterford man also collected a cheque for $630,000 and 300 FedEx Cup ranking points. The win sees Power move from 123rd in the FedEx rankings to the top 60s.
Two months ago, the 34-year-old was 192nd in the rankings with his tour card hopes looking unlikely, but he has now carded 9 consecutive cuts, 6 consecutive top 20 finishes, 3 consecutive top tens and now a maiden tour win.
An emotional Power was thrilled in his post-victory interview.
“It’s still yet to sink in. It’s been a bit of a struggle early in the season. I found a bit of form recently but this changes everything for me. Forever, I’ll be able to say I’m a winner on the PGA Tour. I couldn't be more proud, I just have too many people to thank. It’s unbelievable."
