Séamus Power followed his opening 66 with a four-under 67 to climb three places on the leaderboard and into a share of sixth place going into the weekend at the PGA Tour’s Biltmore Championship Asheville in North Carolina.
The two-time PGA Tour winner started round two on the 10th and got off to the perfect start by splitting the fairway, sticking his approach to 12 feet, then rolling in the birdie putt. Two more birdies followed on the way out via a raking 30-footer on the 13th and a two-putt from similar distance on the par-5 15th, and he reached the turn at three-under.
Genuine birdie chances were few and far between on the front nine, but a mix of good scrambling and long-range putting kept bogeys off the card and he managed to find a final birdie on the par-5 eighth after pitching to seven feet and a par at the last secured a bogey-free round.
The Waterford man entered the week ranked 114th in the FedEx Fall Rankings, needing to move inside the top 100 by the conclusion of the RSM Classic in November to regain full PGA Tour status, and he can go a long way to securing his position with a good weekend in North Carolina.
Neal Shipley is another in need of a good week and the PGA Tour rookie has more than a glimmer of hope after a nine-under 62 gave him a one-shot lead at 15-under over Ben Kohles.
Kohles closed the gap in a hurry with an eagle-birdie finish for a 63 as he tries to erase memories of a pair of recent close calls and chases his first PGA Tour title.
The Biltmore Championship is the first of eight tournaments in the FedExCup Fall that determine which players finish in the top 100 and keep their full cards for next season.
Shipley earned his card off the Korn Ferry Tour, but he has missed 11 cuts in his 19 starts this year and is likely headed back to the Korn Ferry Tour unless he turns it around quickly. He entered the tournament at No. 183 in the FedExCup.
A victory, of course, will not only bring a two-year exemption, but it would secure the winner for the more lucrative PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028 when the tour revamps its schedule, so it’s not just job security for 2027 at stake.
“I had a great year last year,” Shipley said. “Start of the season wasn’t really what we wanted. Been kind of clawing back to get my game back where it should be. I feel like a lot of that work is finally showing. It’s weird. Golf is one of those sports where you don’t get instant gratification. You got to work for a long time to see results.
“I feel like I’m seeing kind of the fruits of that labor,” he said. “And really pumped about where we are right now.”
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