SEAMUS POWER’S CONSISTENCY on the US PGA tour continued last night when he posted a round of 8-under to go within one shot of the lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm.
Power birdied his last four holes at Spyglass Hill, traditionally the toughest of the three courses in benign conditions. It was the only course that played over par.
Power tied for third in the Sony Open in Hawaii and now sits at No. 50 in the world, and if he can stay in the top 50 for two months, then he will be invited to the Masters.
On this form, he will. Last night he played in an all-Irish pairing with John Murphy, who went to Louisville and made his PGA TOUR debut, along with Irish amateurs Dermott Desmond and Gerry McManus.
“I’m playing in a shirt. Normally I have a sweater and other stuff on,” Power told the PGA Tour’s official site. “So it was nice, wind was minimal. It was a perfect day for scoring.
Leaderboard after Thursday @ATTProAm:
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 4, 2022
1. @HogeGolf (-9)
2. @Power4Seamus (-8)
T3. Jonas Blixt (-7)
T3. @Austin_SmoSmo
T5. @Patrick_Cantlay (-6)
T5. @AndrewPutnam1
“It’s always funny with the three courses,” Power said. “It’s great to have a good start but you’re on to a completely different challenge. Tomorrow I’m playing Pebble and it’s going to be a completely different course to today. So kind of makes it easier to reset, and hopefully we can kind of keep doing the same thing tomorrow.”
The leader is Tom Hoge who scored a 9-under 63.
“It’s hard to be in a bad mood out here,” Hoge said. “I mean, Pebble Beach and perfect weather is about as good as it gets.”
Jonas Blixt had a 7-under 64 on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula. Patrick Cantlay, the reigning FedExCup champion, birdied his last three holes for a 65 on the Shore.
“I was in the situation a couple weeks ago in Palm Springs — scores were a little bit better there — but you keep switching golf courses and you fee like you’ve got to keep making birdies the whole way because there’s a lot of great players out here,” Hoge said. “Conditions look pretty good for the weekend, so I know that I’ve got to keep moving forward.”
Jordan Spieth, still trying to recover from an intestinal infection, had a 68 at Monterey Peninsula.
