Seamus Power’s challenge at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship is off to a solid start as the two-time tour winner carded an opening six-under 66 to end day one tied for 14th.
The Waterford man is seeking to secure his place in the early 2025 Signature Events by remaining one of the 10-highest ranked players not already exempt via the top-50 of the FedEx Cup rankings, and there are six more tournaments remaining after this one.
Power was among the late starters on day one in Jackson, Mississippi, and by the time he was heading to the first tee he was already the guts of a dozen shots off the lead as Englishman David Skinns had caught fire.
Power birdied the 10th – his first – and then added three more on his outward nine to make the turn at -4. Three-in-a-row from four through six took him to -7, but his only dropped shot of the day arrived on the par-3 seventh, and he’d par the remaining two to get in the clubhouse at six-under.
His driving was superb, ending the day first in Strokes-Gained-Off-The-Tee, but middle of the pack in the other metrics, so if he can maintain his driving stats and marginally improve in the other categories, he should be well in the mix come Sunday.
But round one was all about Skinns.
The 149th ranked player in the world, missed a nine-footer for birdie on his final hole, the par-4 9th, to miss out on a magical 59.
“It’s hard not to be a little bit disappointed because how many nine-footers are you going to get to shoot 59?” Skinns said. “I’m sure I’m not going to get many.
“I really want to just look back on how kind of in control mentally I felt, how I kept attacking. Wasn’t really thinking about the future at all, which is kind of the thing I’m going to take away from today.”
Skinns, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, opened at 10 with back-to-back birdies, added birdies at 14-17 and then four more in a row from two through five. Another two at seven and eight kept the figure very much alive.
“It was just one of those dream days where I was never really in a bad spot,” Skinns said. “Those are the ones that you turn around and you’re seven-under, you’re like, wow, I didn’t feel like I did too much. Great to see a couple go in that maybe some days don’t.”
Skinns settled for a career-low round and took his missed chance for 59 in stride.
“Just broke way more than I thought,” Skinns said. “But there were a lot out there I got right, so I’m going to focus on the ones I got right.”
PGA Tour University graduate Michael Thorbjornsen, who only turned professional in June, is Skinns’ nearest challenger at nine-under, with Gary Woodland and 2023 runner-up Ben Griffin a shot further back at -8.
Recent Procore Championship winner Patton Kizzire continues to impress in the fall season and is part of a nine-way tie for fifth that also includes Presidents Cup player Mackenzie Hughes and Daniel Berger, with Power one shot behind at -6.
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