Séamus Power produced a stunning second round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour, carding another -8 64 to enter the clubhouse with a five shot lead going into the weekend.
The Touraneena man went into the day on -8, one shot behind the overnight leader Tom Hoge after carding a brilliant 64 on the Spyglass Hill course on Thursday, which included a remarkable run of four consecutive birdies from the 6th to the 9th.
The 34-year-old began round two the same way he left off, two-putting for a well-taken par at the first, before hitting the green in two at the par five second and giving himself an opportunity for eagle from 23 feet. That shot didn’t sink, but the following one from three and half feet for birdie did far more good than harm, seeing Power open a two shot outright lead with Hoge having double bogeyed his first hole.
The West Waterford clubman was denied back-to-back birdies when his effort lipped out at the third, before being met with the same fate at the fourth - and settling for a three-putt at the par three fifth to give back that initial early advantage, and descend down to T2.
A drive into the rough at the par five sixth did little to harm the Déise man’s momentum, as he salvaged his second shot to move onto the green for a birdie effort from ten feet which he sank with ease - moving to -9 and into a tie for the lead once more.
That effort ignited a fire in the Barbasol champion as he then dug out a stunning 20-foot putt at the 7th to hit -10 and take the outright lead. Some fine fringe play allowed for par at the 8th, with his approach on the finale to the front 9 moving to within six feet - and Power made no mistake once again, closing the front 9 with another birdie to move -3 for the day, -11 for the tournament and two shots to the good.
Another superb showing at the tenth saw the putter catch flames, as another birdie putt, this one from 22 feet, dropped into the hole for a -4 thru 10 showing, -12 and a three shot advantage in tandem.
A third birdie in a row at the eleventh had fans at Pebble Beach scratching their eyes as the world number 50 skyrocketed into a comfortable outright lead, as a dart onto the green set him up perfectly to stroke home from 4 feet.
Just like the day before, a run of four consecutive birdies was soon marked upon the card - the final of the fantastic four coming at the twelfth. His approach saw him land with seven feet to find, but with the confidence brimming - finding it was never out of the question. Séamus moved to -14 and four shots ahead of his nearest rivals.
-6 through his last 7 holes, one could forgive a two-putt par at the thirteenth, but that par was to prove solitary as the par five fourteenth became the latest victim along Power’s steam-running birdie train. Laying up to 97 yards, another superb approach landed him to within four of the pin, and the opportunity was again lapped up to climb up to -15, -7 for the day and five ahead on the leaderboard.
The 15th proved a trickier proposition but a clutch par putt from five and a half feet saw Séamus Power head to his final three holes still five to the good.
Finding the fairway with consummate ease, the Touraneena native cannoned it to 142 yards at the 16th before hitting the green in regulation yet again to leave eleven feet, and by now you can guess what happened - sixteen under and six strokes ahead of the chasing pack.
Unfortunately, all good things did have to come to an end eventually - and it was not to be a bogey-free back-nine with Power finding the bunker at the 17th, moving back to -15 and remaining four ahead going into his final hole before the weekend.
Settling for an iron off the tee, the Touraneena man again hit a missile onto the green to land within four and a half feet to give himself the opportunity to post back-to-back 64s, and he did exactly that - posting a tournament record 128 after 36 holes and hitting the clubhouse with a five-shot lead.
Power now has a fantastic opportunity to cement a 2nd tour title, and almost certainly book a place in the Masters should he do so.
