West Waterford man Séamus Power motored into major contention overnight at the USPGA Championship at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Touraneena man sits in sixth place heading into the final round of what is just his second major tournament, having carded a three-under par 67 which saw him briefly hold the clubhouse lead.
He hit six birdies over the course of his round, four of which came between the 12th and 17th, leaving the 35-year-old among the final groups to head out this evening, and the best placed of the Irish at the tournament.
Séamus is six shots off the overnight leader, Mito Pereira of Chile, who sits on -9. He holds a three shot lead over the field, with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick & Will Zalatoris of the USA in a tie for 2nd on -6.
Speaking afterward, Power said the run of four birdies from the 12th to the 17th breathed new life into his challenge.
“It was a funny round. I was a little frustrated around the turn, bogeyed eleven and I actually got lucky on 12, guessed right coming out of the rough and got close. That got me going in the right direction and I went on to make some nice putts coming down the stretch. It changes things going from +1 back to -3, especially on a course like this. It gives me a bit of momentum going into tomorrow.”
Saturday marked the first time that Power was on the supposed ‘right side’ of the draw - and feels that made a huge difference to his round.
“I said it to Simon [Keelan] out there. This was probably the easiest day we’ve had. Thursday evening, by the time we got out there - the greens were gone a little crusty and bumpy with the heat. They weren’t able to roll or cut them on Thursday night so they were kind of the same on Sunday morning. Today, I noticed some massive changes, obviously there’s less guys on the course. The greens were a lot smoother. For me, I was able to take advantage - make a few extra putts and the rest of it was figuring out what was pretty much a whole new golf course, whole new targets, that kind of stuff.”
Power was bullish on his chances of being in contention when things come to the boil late on Sunday evening.
“I feel good. My game is in a good spot. Having seen some putts go in the back nine today, I know I’m going to be a few back but it’s one of those golf courses where whoever is going to win it is going to earn it. If I can go out and get a couple of birdies on the card, it’ll make the world of difference. Every hole here is pretty tough. There’s no holes off, no easy shots - especially, if it’s going to blow like today again. For me, it’s going to be a lot of the same, then you need a couple of breaks to go your way. You’re hoping that no one is going to run away from you today, and tomorrow - just maybe make one of those 35-40 footers, a little chip-in, and that can be the difference sometimes.”
Séamus tees off at 7.15pm Irish time in the company of Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, going out in the third last group on the course.
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy saw his hopes of major glory take a wayward turn with a +4 round of 74 yesterday to move back to a tie for 17th at evens, while Shane Lowry is a shot further back on +1 having carded a +3 over 73.
Sunday marks a bumper day of sport here on WLR.
WLR will bring you the crucial Munster Senior Hurling Championship clash of Waterford and Clare live from 3.50pm this Sunday thanks to George Corbett Skoda with Kieran O’Connor and Michael Ryan on commentary duty at Cusack Park.
Ireland’s local station of the year will also broadcast live from Turner’s Cross at 2pm on Sunday, with Waterford Premier League champions Villa taking on Pike Rovers of Limerick in a historic FAI Junior Cup Final. Ray Scott and Fran Rockett will take you through all the action, thanks to Glorious Sushi.
