Seamus Power is keeping his Irish feet on the ground and is not about to get carried away by thoughts of teeing up at Augusta in April.
Power, 34, edged closer to a maiden Masters invitation after brilliantly sharing third place in last week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, an effort that saw the Waterford golfer jump a further 13 places to No. 49 on the World Rankings.
?? @Power4Seamus averaged 81 feet of putts made in Rounds 1-3.
He’s made 85’10” in his first 4 holes today to get within 3. ? pic.twitter.com/rVDdjBgtMa
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 16, 2022
“Breaking into the top-50 is just one of those things like a top-10 in the tournament but then top-50 in the world is one of those benchmark things,” he said.
“So, 49th seems so much better than 52nd. For whatever reason, it’s one of those benchmarks that we throw out there in golf and it’s great to be a part of it, but obviously, I’d like to be a little bit higher up and get away from the buffer zone a little bit.”
Power is yet to tee-up at the game’s highest level in any of the four majors and while he’s now guaranteed a start in May’s PGA Championship, he need only to be inside the top-50 at the end of March and he’ll be joining Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in teeing-up in the Masters.
However, as Power made his way from Hawaii to Palm Springs in eastern California for this week’s PGA Tour American Express event, his focus was not the Masters.
“I’m just concentrating on the next couple of months,” he said.
“When you are 49th in the world, it’s definitely very precarious in terms of the top-50 so a win takes care of everything. Besides that, a couple of top finishes could get me up there a little higher, and then it might be something I’ll start thinking about.
“So, to get good world ranking points in the first two events of the year, I’ve put myself in a good position. It’s just nice to come out with the gate at the start of a new year and get some points and see where we can go from here.”
If Power were to earn an Augusta invitation, it would still be a dream come true.
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