Brookline provided a brilliant spectacle for the 122nd US Open this past weekend.
The Country Club course was never expected to be a walk in the park and that held true with the eventual winner Matt Fitzpatrick scoring just 6 under to take his maiden major title.
How It All Finished
It was a proper Sunday at a major feel with Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris coming down the home straight, both young players hoping to mark their name down in the history books.
The Waterford man can look back on his weekend and be happy with the performance he turned in. Three rounds of level par to send him to a share of 12th and level with the defending champion Jon Rahm makes for a good week's work. Seamus has now seen his stock on the world stage improve further again as he has climbed five places in the world rankings to 36th. The likes of Patrick Reed, Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood and others are now below him on the world stage.
The Final Round
The pride of Touraneena birdied the par 4 first hole to open his ledger for the day in what was his best return on the opening pin all weekend, having only managed par in the previous three rounds.
220-yard right to left drive off the tee on 2 with the ball landing on the fringe surrounding the green leaving himself 20 feet to the flag. Putting in from the edge of the green he left himself with 5 feet for a par save.
Off the tee on the third, the ball hooked right into the rough. The following shot over the trees found the left green side bunker with 33 yards to make up. Dinking in to leave 12 feet, a par chance went a-begging for the first dropped shot of the day and a return to +1.
Seamus would hold fort over the next five holes, hitting pars on the 4th through 8th but he would drop his first shot on nine all weekend when he marked down for a bogey five. That dropped shot would be followed by another after making the turn when he handed one back on ten.
The remainder of his round would yield a return on the previously lost scores when he picked up birdies on 11 and 12 which returned him to 1 over.
Lay Of The Land
That's a third major in the bag for Seamus. It was almost exactly a year ago (give or take two days) that he won his first event on the PGA Tour at the Barbasol Championship. Since then it's been a meteoric rise for the man molded by West Waterford golf club.
".... that is why you practice, to be in contention in a major on a Sunday,”
Seamus Power https://t.co/12uFCnXLPf— West Waterford Golf Club (@westwaterfordgc) June 19, 2022
Prior to winning in Kentucky Seamus had been well outside the world's top 300 players, but this morning he finds himself 36th and surely must be amongst the most improved players across the globe. In fact, at the end of 2020 he was 429th - a climb of 393 places in 18 months.
In his first year of major golf, he has made the cut at every opportunity. Not only has he made the cut, but he was T9 at the PGA Championship, T27 at the Masters, and T33 at the unofficial major Players Championship.
He's played in 22 PGA Tour events this season and had earnings so far this year of $3,006,906 with five top finishes in all.
In just a few weeks he will line out at the Irish Open in Mount Juliet where the crowds will not only be turning up to see Rory and Lowry as in previous years. In 2022 they will be there to see Seamus.
6 July 2019; Séamus Power of Ireland during day three of the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch Golf Club in Lahinch, Clare. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
