Sometimes you win when you lose. And, although Séamus Power suffered defeat to Keith Mitchell in his final group match of the round robin phase, a victory by Patrick Cantlay over Sungjae Im did the Waterford man a huge favour which enabled him to progress to the last 16 as group winner in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Texas.
Power had been hugely impressive over the first two days with successive 5 and 4 wins over Im and Cantlay to assume pole position but he didn’t have his A-Game against Mitchell but, as it transpired, he’d already done enough.
“I didn’t play my best. I played probably the worst I’ve played. It was a weird day because not winning but still going through; so, the goal in the group is to get through and get on to the knockout stages. So I was able to do this, (just) tidy up a couple of things (on the range) and go from there,” said Power, who faces a head-to-head with European Ryder Cup player Tyrrell Hatton.
One tangible reward for Power’s emergence out of the group phase into the knockout is that he is guaranteed to remain inside the world’s top-50 for Monday’s exemption cut-off into the upcoming US Masters, where he will be making his debut and increasing the Irish representation to four players alongside Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington.
Just two years ago Power was ranked outside the top 500 in the world. Now, he’s going to Augusta.
“Obviously my golf has improved. That’s what’s changed,” he said. “Things don’t quite seem as hard on the golf course.
“I kind of had to get some stuff figured out with my game and I was able to figure that out and make some improvement with wedges and putting and that sort of stuff.
“The margins out here are so small. Even this week obviously the top-ranked guys are favoured to go through, but it’s only like a shot per round maybe they might be better than anyone else.
“Those things are small margins, so if you could just make one less mistake, one less good shot, one less putt or one more putt holed and the whole kind of shape of your career can change.”
Of facing Hatton in the last-16, Power - who actually played a practice round with the Englishman at The Players earlier this month - said: “I’m looking forward to it. He’s a Ryder Cup guy, obviously a fellow-European and I’m looking forward to it and see what happens.”
However, Shane Lowry’s bid to advance out of the group stage fell short when he only suffered a one hole loss to Brooks Koepka, who progressed from group 16 win three wins from three.
Lowry required a win over Koepka to force a play-off but was on the back foot from the off as the American jumped into the lead with a birdie on the first and was two down through the turn. To his credit, he got back to all square with birdies on the 11th and 12th and had a number of opportunities to move into the lead, birdie putts narrowly missing on 16 and 17, before Koepka closed out on the 18th to progress into the knockouts. Lowry intends to take a week off before resuming tournament action at the Masters.
Richard Bland is on the verge of joining Power in a Masters debut at the age of 49 after beating 48-year-old Lee Westwood 2 and 1 to win group nine. “I need the afternoon off,” said Bland, who won the British Masters last year on his 478th start on the DP World Tour.
“Me and Lee joked that whoever just finishes probably wins. I’ve known Lee a long time, he’s a legend of the sport and to be able to go head-to-head with him and get one over on him was pretty special.”
Bland, who will face former world number one Dustin Johnson in the last 16, added: “It’s 18 holes but if I play the way I know I can play he’s got a game on his hands.”
As for qualifying for a first competitive trip to Augusta, Bland added: “I do have a friend who is a member and I’ve been there. So I’ve played the course twice.
“But if I could play the tournament, it would be a dream come true. I don’t really watch a huge amount of golf at home, but the Masters I’m there from the first shot to the last putt. I don’t move.
“It’s just the best tournament to watch on TV and I can only assume it’s a million times better to play in it. So if I get there I think, with the 12 months that I’ve had, that would be a pretty nice sort of cherry on the top.”
In the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, Graeme McDowell shot a second successive round of 68 for eight-under-par 136 to get into contention, trailing 36-holes clubhouse leader Ben Martin by two strokes.
McDowell - ranked 359th in the world and chasing a first win anywhere since his 2020 Saudi International success - was a winner of the tournament in 2019 and observed: “I think my past experiences here, having won in ‘19 and having had a chance to win last year, hopefully will stand me in good stead . . . . I’ll b e looking to get out of the gates and just continue driving it well, continue to give myself plenty of looks and the putter’s feeling good.”
In the Commerical Bank Qatar Masters on the DP World Tour, Pablo Larrazabal produced a graet back nine fightback to post a 71 (having turned in 40 strokes) for a midway total of nine-under-par 135 to take a one shot lead over Chase Hanna, Wilco Nienabar and Adrian Meronk into the weekend.
Jonathan Caldwell and Niall Kearney - in tied-24th on 141, six shots behind the Spaniard - survived the cut, but Cormac Sharvin failed to make it.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow followed up her opening round 69 with a 72 for a three-under-par 141 in the JTBC Classic in Carlsbad to get inside the top-20 as Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen continued her good form with a 67 for 133 to claim the early clubhouse lead.
Leona Maguire, who opened with 69, was among the second wave of players in her quest for a second win of the season.
On the Ladies European Tour, Sweden’s Linn Grant moved into contention for a breakthrough win on the circuit in the Jo’burg Open after a second round 69 for 141 to join Spain’s Maria Herandez on that mark. Olivia Mehaffey struggled to a 78 for 151 to survive the cut in tied-48th.
