Séamus Power plays himself into contention for Open spot at John Deere Classic
Séamus Power (Getty Images)
Séamus Power roared into contention for a place in The Open and his third PGA Tour win when he opened with a seven-under 64 in the John Deere Classic in Illinois.
The West Waterford man followed a birdie at the 13th with an eagle three at the 17th before racing home in 31 thanks to birdies at the first, second, fourth and seventh.
He’s tied for eighth at TPC Deere Run, five shots behind world number 236 Hayden Springer, who became the second player in 12 days to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour.
Springer made two eagles and eight birdies to lead by two shots on 12-under from Finland’s Sami Valimaki and by three from Eric Cole, both already exempt for Royal Troon.
The top two not already exempt will be awarded spots in The Open, with world-ranking positions used to decide any ties.
Springer is set to qualify along with world number 70 Davis Thompson, who is tied for fourth with England’s Harry Hall (205th in the world), Cham Kim (122nd) and amateur Luke Clanton (599th).
Power is in a seven-way tie for eighth place ahead of today’s second round when he heads out with Chez Reavie and Brendon Todd at 1:29 pm Irish time.
The Tooraneena man is ranked 65th in the FedEx Cup standings with the top 70 after the Wyndham Championship on August 11 set to qualify for the first playoff event, the FedEx St Jude Championship in Memphis.
The top 50 in the final FedEx Cup standings will have exemptions for all the big-money signature events next season and moving into the top 50 will be one of Power’s big goals over the next month.
If he fails to qualify for The Open this week, the world number 115 will have a final chance in next week’s Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club, where three places are up for grabs.
