Seamus Power’s resurgence on the PGA Tour continues after the West Waterford professional grabbed a share of fifth place and a second straight top-10 alongside great friend, Canadian David Hearn at the Zurich Classic.
Having dovetailed to a superb 64 on moving day, the pair complimented each other in the alternate shot format of the final day too as they signed for a 68 and a 20-under par tournament total.
At one stage it looked as though they could even threaten for the title, but for bogeys at 16 and 17 to squash any faint hope. However, the duo bounced back with a clutch birdie on 18 and left New Orleans each $163,000 richer after a superb collective showing.
Given Power’s form of late, what odds on the American based pro tying up his tour card early enough to make a dart across the Atlantic for the Irish Open at Lahinch? It’s certainly getting more and more likely by the day with this result moving Power back inside the top-125 on the FedExCup points list.
Meanwhile, Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson combined for a one-over par 73 to sneak a top-20 finish at 17-under par. Earlier in the week, Shane Lowry missed the cut alongside Padraig Harrington after the duo followed a 65 with a 75 to fall four shots short of the passing mark.
Jon Rahm partnered American, Ryan Palmer to a three-stroke victory at the event as they held off Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia in second place.
The victory was the fourth on the tour for the 42-year-old Palmer, but first in nearly a decade. Having last won in 2010 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Palmer waved and gave a thumbs-up to TV cameras as he walked up the 18th fairway with a throng of fans applauding his and Rahm’s impending triumph.
The 24-year-old Rahm won his third PGA Tour title, one each in three straight seasons. He finished in the top-10 for the seventh time this year, including a tie for ninth at the Masters a couple weeks earlier.
Palmer-Rahm finished with a 26-under 262 total at the TPC Louisiana, which had dried out considerably since heavy rains delayed the first round by more than seven hours and forced many players to play more than 18 holes on Friday and Saturday to get the event back on schedule.
Opening the alternate-shot final round tied atop the leaderboard with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax, Palmer-Rahm surged to a two-stroke lead in just two holes after Stallings-Mullinax bogeyed the first hole and Rahm nearly holed out from the fringe to set up Palmer’s 1-foot birdie putt on the par-5 second. Palmer-Rahm never lost the lead after that, making birdies on 13 and 14 at virtually the same time Garcia-Fleetwood were making birdie on 17 and 18. From there, they just had to avoid mistakes, and they did.
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