Seamus Power begins what he hopes will be an injury-free season on the PGA Tour after he lost his full playing rights at the end of last year.
Power is in the field for the season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii and he will operate with a conditional card after finishing 117th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings.
The PGA Tour cut the fully exempt category from the top-125 to the top-100 for this year meaning that Power will have entry into most PGA Tour events but not all and his entry into tournaments will be subject to periodic reshuffles and field sizes.
The West Waterford man had endured an injury plagued two seasons which has resulted in him slipping to 160th in the Official World Golf Rankings from a career high 27th in 2023. The 38-year-old will hope that his body can remain healthy after an encouraging end to last season as there is still so much to play for with performance based incentives still available for the Signature Events via the AON Swing 5 and Next 10.
“I finished it really nicely, which was great,” he said after finishing seventh at the season-ending RSM Classic, his first top-10 since the Valspar Championship last March and one which earned him a spot in the field this week at Waialae Country Club.
“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 ’26.”
Meanwhile, it’s the first outing for the new PGA Tour graduates who came through the DP World Tour via the top-10 not exempt in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Dan Brown, Haotong Li, Keita Nakajima, John Parry, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier and Jordan Smith tee it up as fully fledged PGA Tour members for the first time as they swap the desert swing of the DP World Tour for Honolulu.
Also in the field are former USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, Ben Griffin, Briam Harman, JJ Spaun, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre, Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Adam Scott and Vijay Singh who has taken advantage of a career earning’s exemption for a full card this season.
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