Seamus Power is confident he hasn’t reached the peak of his golfing career and has set his sights on reaching bigger and better things on the PGA Tour after moving up the leaderboard on day three of the RSM Classic in Georgia.
The West Waterford man once again tamed the windy conditions at Sea Island Resort to card a three-under 69 in his third round and reach 13-under for the tournament, although that’s still three shots back of leader Talor Gooch.
Power is having a sensational year having picked up his maiden Tour win at the Barbasol Championship, while he is riding a wave of 14 made cuts in his last 16 events, a run which includes four top-10 finishes.
This coming after multiple seasons where he bounced between the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours, battling to keep his playing rights year on year, but now the 34-year-old has found his groove and is flourishing at the top level of the game.
While some would be content with just one win and riding off into the sunset, Power admits he has already adjusted his goals even higher and he is keen to dispel a belief that he has reached the top of his game before he’s had a chance to play in some of the biggest events.
“Hopefully it’s not a peak, but I certainly feel like I’m on the up,” proclaimed the Irishman.
“It’s tough out here. Even when you get your card you don’t have full status and you’re trying to play your way into some of the bigger tournaments. But it’s tough, guys are playing Majors, WGCs, going past you on a regular basis and it’s just tough to get your foot in the door. But then that causes you to maybe press too hard, so it’s kind of a vicious cycle.
“I got some things figured out like the last 12 months or so, so hopefully I can continue to put it together on the course and hopefully continue on. I won the Barbasol – fantastic, love to get my first win, but it was a 300-point event. The goal is to get a win in the 500-point events and what comes with that.
“Golf, you’re always trying to improve. Some things I was trying to continue to improve here and there and it’s just fun to try and put yourself in contention to see how you react.”
One of the reasons he believes he has been able to flourish at this stage of the year is that he is now able to pick and choose his events given he has status on Tour for the next two years on a winner’s exemption.
“Probably for the first time in my career I’ve got some decent points in the fall. But it makes a big difference knowing which events (I’ll be playing). Like I was able to set up my schedule. I played two and I had a couple weeks off and knew I could play these last four and it wasn’t maybe like rushing to play a Monday, that sort of thing, putting your mind at ease,” he added.
“Even when I’m playing… like I didn’t play particularly well in Houston last week, but knowing that I have an event next week, it definitely makes it easier to move on and just kind of try to learn what you can and kind of get on to the next event.
“Last year if I played poorly in an event I might not have an event for four or five weeks, so it’s kind of tougher to swallow and you have more time to think about the kind of poor golf.
“It definitely helps and hopefully I can continue in the spring to be able to pick and choose and hopefully that will help me going forward.”
Power was solid once again on the Seaside Course at Sea Island, picking up an eagle and three birdies to go with two bogeys in his 67 that has him in a share of second going into the final round in Georgia.
The eagle came on the par-five 15th, the Waterford man displaying a deft touch around the green to chip in for a three, and he will hope that kind of scrambling ability will stand him in good stead down the stretch on Sunday afternoon.
However, he will need a big round to reel in leader Gooch, who got to 16-under with a 67 of his own that featured four birdies and just one bogey as he goes in search of his maiden PGA Tour title.
Colombia’s Sebastián Muñoz shares second with Power after his one-under 69 on Saturday moved him up to 13-under as well, with America’s Tom Hoge one shot further back as his 67 left him 12-under.
- Full scoring HERE
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