Kilkenny’s Mark Power is busily packing his bags for Asia and unlike some, it is not because he is unhappy with the results of last week’s general election.
Many Irish of a similar age to Power enjoy a stint in Asia and the Middle East en route to what they view as a better opportunity in Australia. But Power is intent on more than just a stop gap as he bids to kickstart his golfing career at next week’s LIV Golf Promotions in Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia.
Power will be joined by Galway’s Liam Nolan, Laytown & Bettystown’s Alex Maguire, Malone amateur Matthew McClean and Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy who will be making his second appearance in the event after winning a Challenge Tour card at Q-School last month.
The $1.5 million event will take place from December 12-14 across four rounds over three days, including 36 holes on the final day.
“I don’t have a full category anywhere next year so it’s a perfect opportunity to have a good week,” says Power who bowed out of the early stages of DP World Tour Q-School in the autumn.
“It’s a sprint week compared to other events, I know they are calling it a promotions event but it is q-school really. Compared to some of the other ones where you play 12-16 rounds plus, it’s four rounds so if you get hot over a few days you could change your season and the projection of your career.
“It’s very exciting and I am looking forward to it. I’ve been working very hard at home, went to Spain a week or two ago so just chipping away really. Disappointed with how I finished off last year but lots of stuff in the memory bank.”
2024 was a disappointing first full season as a professional for the Mount Juliet Estate man who was unable to build on the early promise he showed towards the end of 2023 where he made cuts at the Irish Open, Dunhill Links and Australian Open.
Power played fifteen times on the Challenge Tour last term and seemed to be finding his stride in the summer following finishes of 17th in France and 11th at the K Club before storming into the lead in Finland after an opening 64 before fizzling out to a T42nd finish.
From there he missed each of his last five cuts to end a season which threatened to burst into life but instead unravelled before him and he admits he lost control of what he was doing.
“I felt like I was getting a grasp on understanding on what each week was going to take. When you’re starting out you are going to try and play well and see what the cuts are like and what kind of golf it’s going to take to compete. I was surprised how deep the quality is out there. There are so many talented players coming through,” explains the 24-year-old.
“The expectations started to raise somewhat and I put a lot of pressure on myself. I went through a period where I played a lot of tournaments in a row and just dealing with that and doing too much if I missed the cut at the weekend and not switching off.
“When you are going week to week where you are constantly trying to find something. I was trying new things each week and get little feels and not sticking to what I was working on throughout the year and just being consistent with that. A lot of it for me is being consistent with what I am trying to do and keep clear on my ideas and practice routines. A bit more patience, you can’t push too much.”
A vital component of any fledgling professional career is stability and the LIV Promotions event will provide that should Power play well.
He is looking around for options at the moment and his 2025 calendar looks scattered as he tries to build a season around sporadic events on the Challenge Tour.
“I was one spot outside of regaining a category 14 card on the Challenge Tour. I would have got in to a good chunk of events but I ended up missing that. I’ll be into a handful of events next year towards the latter of the year as well as the eight or nine invites I can get so I will still have a decent season.
“I’ll play a few mini tour events I know the Clutch Tour are running an International run in the Middle East so I will look at going out there for a month or so and seeing what I can do. In January or February I might go to the Portugal Pro Tour events or sharpen up.”
The LIV Golf Promotions event could be the tonic Power needs to click his professional career into gear and opportunity is aplenty.
If he is unsuccessful in clinching the solitary LIV Golf League card the consolation prize is certainly nothing to sniff at. The top 10 finishers, including ties, will earn full exemption into all 2025 events on The International Series, sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
The Asian Tour continues to grow and has benefited from golf’s civil war with the International Series attracting some high profile names such as Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquín Niemann, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith etc.
Power knows a fast start is crucial with the top-20 after round one advancing to round two where they will be joined by the automatic qualifiers. The top-36 after 36 holes will qualify for the 36-hole shootout.
“Play your one round and then top-20 and scores reset so you just have to keep your head down and play good golf. You can’t afford a slow start it’s just bang. I’ll make sure I’ll be ready to go anyway,” Power says with confidence.
“Looking at all those International Series events they are incredible with plenty of good money in them. Nobody knows exactly, but in the background there might be some sort of coming together as such so I think it will all just strengthen gradually again.
“If I didn’t get top spot I would absolutely take one of the other cards.”
“I played Riyadh Golf Club on the Trackman simulator. I looked at recaps of the recent tournament on YouTube!”
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