Seamus Power was on course to back up his strong AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am showing with a fine opening round in the WM Phoenix Open, but the Waterford man fell victim to an 18th hole disaster.
After carding 12 straight pars to start the tournament, Power opened his birdie account on the par-5 13th and immediately doubled down by birdieing the par-4 14th to move to -2. On the Stadium Hole 16th – the party hole at the Tour’s wildest event – he gave the crowd plenty of reason to cheer when he hit his tee shot inside 10 feet and rolled in the putt to record his third birdie in four holes and continue his steady progress up the leaderboard.
Another good birdie opportunity came and went at the short par-4 17th, but then disaster struck on the 18th tee as he pulled his tee shot left into the hazard, forcing a re-tee and unfortunately, a repeat as his second attempt – and now third stroke – again sailed left, destined for a splash.
This time he was able to drop in the rough and find the green with his approach, two-putting for a triple bogey-seven that undid all the momentum gained over the previous five holes. The level-par round leaves Power tied for 67th and needing to shoot at least one- or two-under on Friday to see weekend action at TPC Scottsdale.
2022 US Open champion Wyndham Clark carded a blemish-free, seven-under 64 to get his nose in front of Taylor Moore and Lee Hodges, with Justin Thomas and Nicolai Hojgaard among the six-strong group one shot further adrift on -5.
It was a welcome return to form for Clark who missed the cut and finished 73rd out of 78 in his last two PGA Tour starts.
“You can’t necessarily control the score and what happens to your golf ball, but you can control your thoughts,” he admitted afterwards.
“So it was a good reminder for me to get back to, hey, when I’m playing my best, I look at the glass more half full than I do half empty.”
Two-time tournament winner and world number one Scottie Scheffler was uncharacteristically inconsistent as he carded two eagles and three birdies but offset these with three bogeys and a double bogey to sign for a two-under 69 that leaves him five shots off the pace.
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