Seamus Power fired a closing five-under par 66 to grab a tied 8th finish at the John Deere Classic and move inside the top-125 on the FedEx standings as he looks to qualify for this season’s playoffs and lock down his PGA Tour card for next year.
Power hit 10 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation, finishing at 15-under for the tournament, four shots behind Lucas Glover who claimed an overdue victory at 19-under par. It was Power’s fifth consecutive top-20 finish and his third top-10 in that stretch, the West Waterford man banking $181,350 as his season earnings creep towards the $1million mark (currently $854,029).
Most importantly, up to 123 on the FedEx rankings and now with every chance of making the end of season playoffs, the 34-year old said he’d enjoy the finish on Sunday before getting back to work for the remainder of the season.
“Yeah, delighted,” Power said. “I kind of had a lot of ground to make up and kind of working on it still. But any time you get a decent finish out here, you’ve got to play well, you’ve got to work hard. Yeah, delighted. There’s still going on all around the world here in the next few weeks, so it’s nice to get some points under my belt and have something to build on.”
On the 561-yard par-5 second hole, Power reached the green in 3 and sunk a 28-inch putt for birdie. On the fourth hole, Power found the green in 2 and sunk a 16-foot putt for birdie. His one bogey of the day arrived at the par-4 ninth before Power’s 189 yard approach to 6 feet at the 111th set himself up for the birdie on the hole.
Power stuck his tee shot right next to the pin, setting himself up for a sub 1-foot birdie on the 215-yard par-3 12th. On 14th hole, Power was again dancing and sunk a 22-foot putt for birdie. After a drive to the right side of the fairway on the 484-yard par-4 15th hole, Power had a 143 yard approach shot, setting himself up for another birdie.
“My game is in a good spot at the moment, so it obviously kind of helps the mind be a little bit more relaxed, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do to get at least in the Top-125 to get in the Playoffs,” he said.
“That’s going to be my main goal for now, and I think I’ve got the next two weeks coming up, so obviously I’ll enjoy today and start again on Tuesday.”
Glover meanwhile fired a final round 64 to win his first title on the PGA Tour in over ten years.
“Pretty ecstatic,” he said, having finished two clear of Kevin Na and Ryan Moore. “Still hasn’t really sunk in yet, but long day. Turned into kind of a long week with the weather. I seem to do all right in the mud, so pretty pleased.”
“I’ve always worked hard and believed in it, but made some changes two or three years ago that needed to do for more longevity with my body and my trainer, Kolby Tullier. He’s done a great job with me and kind of reinvigorated fitness for me, which is a big thing.
“I want to play a few more years and try to keep going. It was just getting back refocused. I always thought I could do this again, and I just needed to figure out the best way to go about it again.”
- Full scoring HERE
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