Seamus Power fell short of retaining his full PGA Tour playing rights next season but the glass is certainly half full for the West Waterford man who looks like he has turned a corner in both his form and his health.
Power needed a top-3 finish in last night’s RSM Classic to finish in the top-100 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. He began the week ranked 129th and a share of seventh place on eighteen-under saw him miss out by three shots.
However, a first top-10 finish since the Valspar in March helped him climb twelve places to 117th in the rankings which puts him in the 101-125 category which earns conditional PGA Tour status for the 2026 season which should see him make upwards of 18 starts.
Such is the squeeze put on cards now on the PGA Tour with the fully-exempt status cut from 125 to 100, Power was always going to be up against it this season especially given he was still struggling with injury early in the year.
The two-time PGA Tour winner has been plagued by a hip problem since 2023 which gave way to further niggles in his back while there were one or two health scares along the way – he recently had a melanoma growth removed from his forehead.
Power was ranked as high as 28th in the world, had a top-10 and a top-12 finish in a major, and looked like a serious contender for Luke Donald’s 2023 Ryder Cup team in Rome.
But a hip injury at the Scottish Open two years ago forced him to withdraw and he ended that season without a top-10 finish. The injury niggles persisted in 2024, he registered one top-10 finish on the PGA Tour and withdrew from the season ending RSM Classic, finishing the year ranked 123rd in the world.
Power was also forced to withdraw from the Canadian Open earlier this year and fell as low as 184th in the world. But six cuts made in a row including finishes of 11th and 7th give plenty of reason for encouragement heading into next season.
Potentially over 20 starts next season plus the potential to get into some stronger field events through the Aon Next 10 also shows that there is an opportunity if he can crucially stay injury free.
He may have come up shy of his ultimate goal but the 38-year-old found form when he needed it most. He had a stroke average of 67.6 for his last twelve rounds of the season – something that seemed a long way off when he cut a bewildered and lost figure after a missed cut at the Irish Open in September.
Finally, after two years where injuries shattered the prime time of his career, he looks to have a clean bill of health and has married that with the fact he is playing well again.
“I finished it really nicely, which was great,” said Power.
“With injuries, it was a struggle early in the season, so it was nice to get some healthy golf there in the Fall and get some momentum and a bit of confidence going. So hopefully I can bring that into January ’26.”
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