Seamus Power is a PGA Tour winner.
The Waterford man claimed top honors at the Barbasol Championship overnight, beating out JT Poston in a six-hole playoff.
The win moves Seamus from 210th up to 113th in the World Rankings as well as launching him to 69th in the Fed Ex Cup standings. Reacting to the career and life-changing moment, Seamus said "Yeah, it's an incredible day. Yeah, I mean, I started out knowing I was going to need a low one. To be honest, I didn't think 5 under would be low enough, but yeah, I was able to pick one up on the last, squeeze into a playoff and eventually kind of pulled through thereafter -- the first hole there was very exciting to get the chip-in. Obviously, 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 just kind of stay patient enough there and JT made just one mistake and yeah, I was able to take advantage. But yeah, I mean, unbelievable day, career changing, life changing, all that kind of good stuff. It's not going to sink in for a while."
It was a final round to remember for the West Waterford golfer who had been within touching distance throughout the whole weekend. Starting yesterday's final round, he was three shots off the pace of Poston - who had not looked likely to drop a shot, but pressure does strange things and can make even the best wilt.
On the back nine, Poston hit a bogey and a double on his journey home which opened the door to Seamus who birdied the 18th, reaching -21 and forcing a play-off. He said that he wasn't aware of Poston's leaderboard position when he knocked in for birdie on the final hole in regulation, "I'm not a big leaderboard watcher. I thought I might need to get to 23. But that's golf. You don't know if there's pressure, some trouble there on the last few holes. But yeah, I didn't birdie 15, got a good birdie on 16 and had a horrible lip-out for birdie on 17, so I kind of stayed aggressive on 18 and was able to get one more and it proved to be enough to get me in the playoff."
This success means that Seamus will now have a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, will gain automatic entry to the PGA Championship, the Players Championship and the Tournament of Champions. He also nets a cheque for $630,000.
The drama is building @BarbasolChamp.@Power4Seamus hits it tight on 18 and sinks the birdie putt.
He's the leader in the clubhouse at -21. pic.twitter.com/5XGXjRgliS— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 18, 2021
Entering the playoff as the player who had just struck the better final hole undoubtedly boosted his chances, Poston was at a lower ebb having just bogeyed, but both players birdied to begin the playoff to set the tone/
First playoff hole ...
Tournament on the line ...@Power4Seamus is CLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/MYayPEH14K— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 18, 2021
Despite having won his first PGA Tour event, the man from Tooranena was humble in his assesment, "Yeah, I mean, it's -- to me it's all perspective. I view myself as extremely lucky. I'm 34 and I've yet to work a day in my life. So every time I get to play a tournament or play an extra year on Tour, to me it's a massive bonus. I love playing golf, it's my favorite thing to do, so for me just being able -- obviously not the success, but this is my fifth year on PGA TOUR. You do have some level of success and just being able to enjoy that as best I can. If you look around the world, like we have it better than -- we're very fortunate. We're very, very fortunate. I think if you can just keep that in perspective. It's easy sometimes to get that into comparing mode, compare yourself to other guys who have won tournaments and this and that. You've just got to be happy for people who have put in the work and it's paid off, and thankfully this week it was me. Yeah, even if I didn't win, my attitude is I still would try to be very much on the positive side. It's still golf, I still get a check for playing golf and I don't have to work in an office from 9:00 to 5:00, so I'm very, very lucky"
Some fans couldn't handle the pressure.
Watching this playoff like ... pic.twitter.com/K12sQc4FsF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 19, 2021
Over six holes to decide a winner, they went shot for shot until Poston hit a bogey and handed the opportunity to Seamus who drained a par to claim the title.
Golf is a game of inches.
Leader J.T. Poston's drive at the 15th hole lands out of bounds by the smallest of margins.
He leads by 1 after making a double bogey on the hole. pic.twitter.com/DLwuF2es5b— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 18, 2021
Six playoff holes later, @Power4Seamus is a winner @BarbasolChamp. pic.twitter.com/dv0M8CuyFU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 19, 2021
Asked by the media after this win who he would be calling first, the answer was simple "I mean, definitely my dad. I'm sure he's still up. He probably won't sleep for a week. Whenever I get out of here, I'll give him a shout. I'm sure he's already sent me some messages. The list of people to call is just incredibly long. You guys have been around enough golfers, there's so many people it takes to get to this point, your sponsors and your coaches and your helpers and your family and friends and all that kind of stuff. It all matters, so I have a long list of phone calls here to make."
