Seamus Power admits his number one goal on the PGA Tour is to keep his card and a second Butterfield Bermuda Championship title would seal the deal and cap off a strong end to the season.
Power looks to have fully recovered from a hip injury which plagued the second half of his 2023 season and first half of 2024, while he was recently given the all clear from a skin cancer screening.
Three top-15 finishes in his last four starts on the PGA Tour leaves him in 54th in the FedEx Cup Fall Series with players ranked from 51-60 after next week’s RSM Classic earning a place in two Signature Events the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational, next year which could be lucrative opportunities for Power to keep living his American dream.
“That certainly was [on my mind] starting the fall,” Power, who won his second PGA Tour title in Bermuda in 2022, said in his pre-tournament press conference.
“I feel like I’m in a very good spot now so it’s not as much in the forefront. Two goals for the fall was try to win an event and to lock up that top 60. It looks like I’m in a really good spot for one of those.
“It’s such a big deal and we saw that this year, the numbers really played out that you need to be in at least some of those elevated events. So that top 60, getting in Pebble and LA will be huge.
“It really kept me very motivated in the fall, so it’s been fun kind of chasing obviously and being able to pick up some points.
“Hopefully a win would add Maui [The Sentry Tournament of Champions] to the list of my elevated events, so that’s going to be a big goal for the last two weeks.”
Power looks to have regained the form which saw him become a Ryder Cup contender last year. He will be aiming to put himself into the frame to make Luke Donald’s European team heading to Bethpage Black next September but that would mean playing more on the DP World Tour.
Under the Ryder Cup eligibility rules, Power must play four regular DP World Tour events this year, he will end the year having made just two appearances after a skin cancer lesion on his arm is forced him to miss Wentworth and beyond before he began the FedEx Cup Fall Series.
The West Waterford man has taken an unusual route to the PGA Tour. Rather than build up his post college career back in Europe he stuck it out Stateside plugging his way through the mini tours before picking up two PGA Tour wins in 2021 and 2022.
The 37-year-old has been a regular appearance maker in the FedEx Cup playoffs but the PGA Tour will remain his bread and butter as he prioritises retaining his full playing privileges and climbing back into the world’s top-100 and hopefully top-50.
“I mean, it’s always tricky. I’ve always said this, I would have loved to have played more in Europe, but for me, I’m not on the level of some of those — obviously like the likes of Rory can play both tours because he racks up so many points in majors and when he goes to Europe he has wins or he’s close to winning and he wins over here.
“It’s just different for me. I mean, realistically for my every year I’m starting out, my No. 1 goal is to keep my card on the PGA TOUR. It’s been an amazing experience to play on the PGA TOUR for me and I’m trying to extend that as long as I can. That’s always going to be goal No. 1.
“If I got to a point where if I come out early next year was to win especially an elevated event or you have your goals locked up over here, you’d love to go play in more.
“I mean, DP World Tour has been great to me the last few years, they’ve given me some spots. Obviously for me getting to play closer to home, it’s cool. I got to play a couple events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last year, which was really cool, but it’s always going to be tough.
“My No. 1 goal is you’re trying to keep your job and for me the best way of doing that, at least like for the foreseeable future, is going to keep my card on the PGA TOUR. Maybe things will change. I know there’s going to be some changes coming down the pipeline, maybe you get pushed out or whatever, but I love playing professional golf so I’m going to play wherever I can really.”
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