Seamus Power has lots of work to do if he’s to avoid missing the cut in his opening event of the 2025 PGA Tour schedule.
The Waterford man finished 56th in the 2024 FedEx Cup rankings, gaining access to the Signature Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitation at Riviera, but he’ll need to perform on a regular basis throughout the season to avoid a late-year scramble to retain his playing rights.
The Sony Open in Hawaii has been something of a mixed bag for Power having finished third in 2022, missed the cut twice and only been inside the top 50 once in three other outings.
One of the courses where accuracy takes precedence over brute force, Power struggled off the tee, hitting just three of 14 fairways and ranking 139th of 143 in Strokes-Gained-Off-The-Tee. A hot putter was needed to salvage the day, but didn’t come to his rescue and he ended up carding three bogeys without a single birdie to his name and he joins a 10-way tie for 129th at +3, four shots off the provisional cutline.
While Power struggled, one of his playing partners was riding the crest of a wave as England’s Harry Hall carded a six-under-par 64 to grab a share of the lead.
The 27-year-old was among six players tied at the top as darkness called a halt to proceedings with a few players yet to complete their opening rounds at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.
Hall, who has emerged as a dark horse to make the European Ryder Cup team in September, produced a roller-coaster round that featured 10 birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey on his way to his leaderboard topping round.
Hall later paid tribute to legendary swing coach Butch Harmon who he began working with last year which has coincided with his uptick in fortunes.
“I approached him and he reached out to me a few months after and said ‘it would be great to see you. I started working with him, and since then I’ve played really nice.”
While Power may have struggled off the tee, Hall’s aggressive gameplan with the driver paid dividends and provided many opportunities to attack, leading to his birdie spree.
“If you have confidence in the driver, then it really makes a big difference,” he said. “It’s quite a tight golf course, so if you can hit a driver straight, then you’re obviously gaining a few strokes on the field, and that’s exactly what I did.
“If I can clean up a few things that happened today – a couple of bogeys and the double – it’ll hopefully be a really good week.”
Alongside Hall are five Americans, with Adam Schenk, Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy, Paul Peterson and Tom Hoge joining him on -6.
PGA Tour rookie Peterson made a perfect start to his debut event, picking up three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to reach the turn at five under par.
He added two more birdies on the 10th and 11th holes to move to seven under, but bogeys on the 13th and 16th halted his momentum. However, a birdie on the final hole ensured he finished the day tied for the lead.
“It was pretty fun – just hit it nice, putted it nicely,” Peterson said. “Put some extra time in on the greens yesterday evening and it seemed to pay off. It’s been nice to feel like I’m hitting it well and getting off to a good start.”
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