The first silverware of his professional career and a return to his first event as a pro secured, it’s been a good week for Mark Power and one he hopes can give him a springboard towards the end of the season.
Power carded a final round of 70 in blustery conditions at the K Club to finish on six-under-par and share eleventh place at the Irish Challenge, his best finish as a professional to date in his rookie Challenge Tour campaign.
The Kilkenny man overtook close friend John Murphy in the race for the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy and secures a start in the Amgen Irish Open in Royal County Down twelve months after picking up just over €40,000 at the event last year.
“Yeah I’m delighted with that. My first professional event was the Irish Open in the K Club so to get back there is amazing,” smiled Power.
“It’s such a good event, home crowds, the best players in the world so just delighted to be heading back thankfully.”
Power had made such a promising start to his pro career almost twelve months ago but it hasn’t been an easy ride since. Missing out on a DP World Tour card at Q-School last November while he has missed six cuts and not posted a top-10.
Teeing off a couple of shots behind Murphy on Sunday, the 24-year-old will take great pride in shooting a score when he needed it most to secure the Irish Open spot.
“Definitely. I knew I was probably a little bit out of reach of the leaders given how some of the guys are playing. To have the Irish prize and the rewards that come with that looming gave me plenty of motivation to shoot a good score.
“I had it going very nicely after 10, 11 holes and made a bit of a stumble going in and finished with two birdies which saved me a little bit.”
The former Walker Cup star opened with a birdie and a bogey in his first six holes but took control of his Irish Open destiny with four birdies in five holes around the turn but wobbled slightly, dropping a shot on the 12th before finding the water off the tee on the 16th which cost him a triple bogey.
With Murphy moving in the wrong direction himself at that stage, Power showed great determination to recover with a 60-foot birdie on the par-3 17th and a tap in birdie on the last.
“The one thing you can’t do on 16 is hit it left, water all down that way straight into the wind. I don’t think I hit a drive left all day and of course on that hole, just made a mistake. I’m proud of how I battled back, made a big putt on 17 and almost a nice shot on 18 but good up and down so proud of the finish.”
Two top-20 finishes in his last three starts, Power looks to be heading in the right direction with so much to play for in the coming months.
At a projected 116th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, the top-70 and a full Challenge Tour card for next season isn’t out of reach which would relieve some of the pressure heading to Q-School in November.
“I started off in South Africa and made a couple of cuts for what it’s going to be like on the Challenge Tour, it was a good experience. The standard is very good with very little gap between this and the DP World Tour.
“I did find it tricky, if I didn’t have my A game my B game wasn’t making cuts so just have to regroup and know what I have to work on and saw plenty of that come through this week. This is our biggest event of the year the Irish Challenge so to play some of my best stuff so far this year was very encouraging.”
Kinsale native Murphy endured a disappointing day, slumping to a five-over 77 to share 38th place on one-under with K Club assistant professional Liam Grehan two shots further back.
Last year’s low Irishman Jonathan Caldwell was 65th on eight-over.
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