Seamus Power has superbly made it two cuts from as many majors after his gutsy showing in continuing testing conditions on day two of the 104th PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Power, who played all four rounds in last month’s major’s debut at the Masters, just impresses with every round at the game’s highest level, shooting a one-under 69 in the breezy and testing conditions on the Southern Hills course.
Also, Shane Lowry made it a dozen major championship halfway cuts in a row despite an unlucky, gut-wrenching double-bogey at the 13th in posting two-over 72 for a similar two-over 36-hole tally.
It was less than 24-hours between rounds for the Irish duo when the alarm sounded in their Tulsa hotel rooms, and the finding their way to the course in also teeing-up less than five minutes apart, just after 7.30am local time.
Power kick-started his round on a bright note, holing a four-footer for a birdie ‘3’ at the second, and while dropping a shot at the next, the Waterford star headed into this back nine moving back to one-under for his round in holing a 37-foot monster for a birdie ‘3’ on the 10th.
The World No. 42 then holed a five-foot birdie at the 13th to move to one-under, but gave the shot back at the 15th, and despite his great 85-foot bunker shot to just six-feet, where Power then two-putted for a bogey ‘5’.
Power then parred his closing three holes to be lying just outside the top-20, and clearly happy to be competing over the weekend for a second straight occasion, since his majors debut at Augusta National.
“Two majors, two cuts, so that’s not too bad”, he said smiling. “It was tough going, especially early on when the wind was really whipping at the start, and then the greens obviously weren’t as smooth because they weren’t able to roll or cut them.
“So, overall I’m pretty pleased. Could have been one or two better here or there, but overall not too bad.
“Though knowing the forecast this morning, I was kind of hoping the forecast was going to be wrong with the wind, but they were kind of spot on. But yeah, you kind of knew where it was going to be, especially today.
“The weekend is going to be different. I think it’s going to come from a different direction. I have not seen the course before; it’s going to be to try to learn on the go and do the best you can with it”.
Lowry was also off to a good start, picking-up a first birdie of his round in brilliant manner, smashing his drive 371-yards down the par-5 15th fairway, finding the green in two, and two-putting from 17-feet for a birdie ‘4’.
Lowry made back-to-back birdies, and made amends for his bogey a day earlier, in holing his putt from 17-feet at the par-3 16th. It sent the Clara golfer inside the top-10 and then sharing ninth place at two-under for both his round and the year’s second major.
The heartbreak moment for Lowry was at the par-4 fourth hole, and his 13th, when he played a good drive but then in hitting his second to a tightly-tucked left pin, the wind caught his approach shot and his ball then rolled into a bunker. He splashed out, but was short, and with the wind taking it back into the bunker and very near the spot where he had hit his third.
And Paul McGinley’s SKY Sports remark, “Well, at least his ball didn’t roll back into the divot from his first shot”, was hardly little comfort with Lowry then finding the green in ‘4’ but two-putting for his ‘6’.
It sent Lowry from a then share of 16th and down the board into a tie for 38th before a three-putt bogey ‘4’ at his penultimate hole was also had to digest before heading to lunch.
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