LAST UPDATE | 18 Nov 2022
SÉAMUS POWER IS four shots off the lead after Friday’s second round of the RSM Classic in Georgia.
The Waterford man shot a second-round 68 and currently sits at eight under par, tied for 15th in a congested top end of the leaderboard.
Power, who opened with a 66 on a separate course yesterday, pocketed birdies on the second and eighth before dropping a shot on the ninth.
The 35-year-old found his groove on the back nine, birdieing 10, 14, 15 and 16 before a disappointing bogey on 17 bumped him down the chasing pack. He remains in contention, however, heading into the weekend.
Harry Higgs fired a seven-under par 63 to complete his best 36-hole PGA start and grab a share of the lead.
Higgs and fellow Americans Andrew Putnam and Cole Hammer are tied at the top on 12 under at Sea Island Golf Club which is located on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
Players competed for the first two rounds on the par-72 Plantation Course and par-70 Seaside course, with the last 36 holes to be played on the Seaside layout.
Higgs delivered his bogey-free round on the Seaside course while Hammer shot 66 there and Putnam fired a seven-under 65 on the Plantation course, his lone bogey of the first two rounds coming on the final hole.
At one stage early in the second round, there were eight players sharing the lead at eight under.
- You can follow the RSM Classic leaderboard here >
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire is seven shots back in a tie for seventh at the Tour Championship after Lydia Ko produced a near immaculate round to take a commanding five-stroke lead at the LPGA’s season-ending event on Friday.
The Cavan woman carded a second consecutive 69, five birdies and two bogeys leaving her on six under par and just about in touch with runaway leader Ko.
The New Zealander shot a bogey-free six-under par 66 to reach 13-under for the tournament and lead South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo, who shot a 69.
Victory would secure Ko the LPGA’s Player of the Year award as well as the $2 million top prize, the biggest in the history of women’s golf.
The 60-player field at Tiburon Golf Club, with no-cut, is competing for a total purse of $7 million.
That is the kind of money that the LPGA will help protect from any eventual advances from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit should it decide to venture into women’s golf.
On Friday, the tour announced a 33-event schedule for 2023 with a highest-ever $101.4 million in total season prize money and it is star quality, such as the South Korean-born Ko, which will be vital to hopes of further boosting the tour’s profile.
Ko gained her fame in her years as a teen sensation but lost her form from 2018, failing to win a tournament for three years, but she looks back to her best this season, having won twice already.
- You can follow the CME Group Tour Championship here >
– © AFP 2022, with additional reporting by The42 Team
