Séamus Power will have to produce a special final round if he’s to make any major inroads on the leaderboard at the PGA Tour’s season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii.
The Waterford man eagled the 18th hole to make the cut with a shot to spare in round two, but moving day saw him drop 15 places on the leaderboard with a two-over-par 72.
After ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting in Thursday’s opening round, the flatstick became a problem on Saturday, where he ranked 74th of 74. It began with a four-putt from 56-feet on the par-4 second, leading to a double bogey that he was never able to fully recover from.
He did roll in a six-footer to birdie the par-3 fourth and get one of those shots back, but saw birdie chances come and go on the next five and he made the turn at one-over-par for the day.
It was more of the same on the back nine as short par putts on 10 and 14 and a short birdie putt on 12 all stayed out, before a two-putt from just over 20 feet on the par-5 closing hole saw him sign off with a birdie that leaves him tied for 62nd.
At the top of the leaderboard, Davis Riley birdied four of the last seven holes at the wind-swept Waialae Country Club for a three-under 67 and a two-stroke lead over Harry Hall, Chris Gotterup and Kevin Roy.
“You got to make some gritty pars in these conditions and just try to make some putts on these fast greens in crosswinds in tough putting conditions when you have a chance,” Riley said.
Riley rebounded from a bogey on the par-3 11th with a birdie on the par-4 12th. He hit a wedge inside two feet on the par-4 14th and made a 15-foot putt on the par-4 15th. On the par-5 18th, he ran his 60-foot putt almost eight feet past and made the comebacker.
“I just started feeling really good with the swing and I was hitting my start lines,” Riley said. “That’s the biggest thing in this wind, is hit your start lines and control the curvature, and I felt like I was hitting some really good hold shots against the wind and hitting my start lines.”
Of the chasing trio, Englishman Hall’s four-under 66 was the lowest score, making just the one bogey, but he’ll be a little disappointed not to be a shot closer after only making par on the final hole after putting himself in good position on the par-5.
“Hitting the ball where I’m looking and doing well judging the wind tee to green,” Hall said. “Did a lot better job today of making some putts.”
Hall won the 2024 ISCO Championship, while Gotterup won the Myrtle Beach Classic in 2024 and the Genesis Scottish Open in 2025 along with finishing third in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Roy, who earned his first PGA Tour card at the age of 32 in 2022, has yet to win on Tour but would earn an invitation to tee it up in his first ever Masters Tournament if he can find himself atop the leaderboard at the end of play on Sunday.
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