Seamus Power is looking to do the unthinkable as the Waterford man needs to win the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club if he is to have any chance of pushing his way into the top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings and into the playoffs.
Power, who currently sits 130th in the FedEx Cup standings on 270 points, will need all the 500 points on offer for a win if he is looking to compete in the first playoff event for the fifth year in a row.
The 38-year-old began his round in some style, closing out his front nine on four-under-par, showing his intent with some confident approach shots, most notably a 190yd pin-seeking second shot on the par-5 fifth hole where the Waterford man walked away with a birdie.
The closing nine holes told a different story for Power as the two-time PGA winner lost all momentum from the front nine birdie-fest, starting with back-to-back bogeys and following those up with another bogey on the 14th hole, leaving the Waterford man at one-under-par after the first round in T89.
Joel Dahmen, who also needs a strong finish at the final tournament in the Regular Season, shot a nine-under-par 61 to put him in sole possession of the lead after round one.
Dahmen, currently 101st in the standings and would need a runner-up finish with no more than two other players to reach the FedExCup Playoffs, played with confidence hitting 16 greens in regulation.
“Just keep compounding good shots… hit it in the fairway, hit it in the right spot on the green and try to make a putt from there. Thursday’s a long way from Sunday. I’ve been here a lot, so I’m just happy to get off to a good start,” said the 37-year-old.
Dahmen, who has one career win under his belt, is looking to win with a new face on the bag as he recently parted ways with long term caddie and best friend Geno Bonnalie.
“To make the Playoffs, that would be unbelievable, give me a lot of time off this fall. We’ve got a baby coming so that would take some pressure off of that. The Playoffs are a bonus for me. I’m just going to go out and try to play good golf,” said Dahmen.
Sweden’s Alex Noren sits just behind Dahmen at -8, as the 43-year-old looks to back up his T7 finish at last week’s 3M open with another strong showing.
Noren missed the first half of the season with a hamstring injury, but the Swede has been proving his abilities since his return.
“The body feels good (I’ve) spent some time trying to get in shape… we spent a lot of time on the putting and that really went well, but the short shots, the irons were better than they have been in a long time,” said Noren.
Big names such as Max Homa, Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler all need a big result this weekend if they are to make the playoffs.
A four-under-par round one has Max Homa in good shape, but it could have gone better on the greens for the 34-year-old as he looks to remove any jeopardy from cycling out of Signature Events next year.
“It’s kind of freeing playing Thursday not even thinking about anything but winning the golf tournament but (my) back feels against the wall. It feels anytime you lip out a putt it just hurts a little bit more,” said Homa.
It is still all to play for after round one as the scoring suggests that you can’t rule anything out yet.
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