Thursday, August 16, 2018

Power in the hot seat as Snedeker scorches to 59 

Brandt Snedeke

Brandt Snedeke

Seamus Power gave himself a FedEx Cup headache as Brandt Snedeker made history in the Wyndham Championship by becoming the ninth player to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour.

The West Waterford man (31) is 123rd in the FedEx Cup race with only the top 125 on Sunday night keeping their full PGA Tour cards. 

But after an early double bogey at the fourth put him under pressure, he bogeyed the 18th for a four-over-par 74 that left him five shots outside the cut mark and projected to fall to 125th, leaving him vulnerable to the chasing pack if he fails to make the weekend.

It was also a slow day for 139th-ranked Shane Lowry, whose late bogey at the 17th saw him post a one-under 69 as he seeks the solo eighth-placed finish he needs to keep his full US card next year.

"I was very tired out there," Lowry told Sky Sports. "It's my fifth week in a row so I might need to rest up now for the next 24 hours and see what I can do."

As for his PGA Tour card, he'd like to keep it but won't be a drama if he doesn't have a full exemption next term.

"I am very lucky with what I have," he said. "I am back to Europe for the rest of this season so regardless of what happens this week, I will play Portugal, British Masters, Dunhill Links—those type of tournaments. If I don't keep my card over here I will go back and play there next year and try and get back in the top 50 in the world that way. 

"It would be really nice to keep my card and be able to play a schedule over here next year but with the category I have, I will still be able to play some tournaments and I can play in Europe as well.

No matter what happens, I don't have to go to the Web.com Tour Finals next week as some guys are going to have to do. I am in the fortunate position that I don't have to worry about that.

To be honest, I am trying to win the tournament. And that's what I am here for this week. I have played nicely the last few weeks and nicely today until I let it slip towards the end. Hopefully I can get that back tomorrow." 

Asked about his recent return to form, he said: "As you may know, myself and my caddie Dermot finished at The Open and my brother has caddied for the last three weeks, four weeks with this week, and we got on great and it just brought an extra bit of freshness to my game.

"I am doing a lot myself, making decisions myself, which I found I hadn't been doing over the last few years. It seems to be working. I don't know what I am going to do after this week. Alan is back to work. But we have had a great few weeks, really enjoyed it, especially last week at the PGA which was amazing."

Graeme McDowell is in a similar position.

He must finish solo fifth to keep his full playing rights but a level par 70 leaves him six shots short of where he needs to be at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

As for Pádraig Harrington (46), who needs to win to be fully exempt in the US next year, he was tied for 73rd with Lowry after a 69 and ten strokes off the lead.

Snedeker (37) became the ninth player to shoot 59 or lower on the PGA Tour when he rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the ninth.

He began his round with a bogey at the 10th but turned in three-under before scorching home in 27 shots, rattling in an eagle and six birdies.

He didn’t even see his slam-dunk eagle two at the sixth where officials were forced to cut a new hole after his 176-yard approach to the elevated green came in like a meteor and damaged the edge of the hole.

After missing a slick six-footer at his 17th to get to 11-under, he rammed home a 20 footer from the fringe at the ninth to become the ninth player to break 60 on the US circuit.

“To step up there and have a 20-footer and know what it means; I’m very aware of what was going on,” Snedeker said of his final putt.

"I knocked that putt in. It was really special to know I'm part of a small club on tour. Not many people have done this. It's a really cool feeling right now."

Snedeker’s 59 gave him a four-shot lead in the clubhouse over Ryan Moore (63) with Martin Flores, DA Points, Brett Stegmaier, David Hearn, Abraham Ancer and Ollie Schniederjans firing 64s to share third.

There was also hot scoring at the European Tour's Nordea Masters in Sweden where Frenchman Clement Sordet fired an eight-under 62 to lead by two strokes from Scotland's Scott Jamieson and Englishman Lee Slattery.

At the Challenge Tour's Galgorm Resort & Spa Northern Ireland Open, South Korea's Minkyu Kim and Wales' Stuart Manley shot seven-under 64s to lead by one stroke from Richard Finch, Marcus Armitage and Denmark's Victor Gebhard Osterby.

Ardglass' Cormac Sharvin (67) was the best of the 23-strong home challenge in joint ninth with Jonny Caldwell, and Ruaidhri McGee tied 16th after 68s.

Tullamore's Stuart Grehan (69) and tournament ambassador Michael Hoey (70) were the only other Irish players under par. Scores



from News - Irish Golf Desk https://ift.tt/2MmA1Ur
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