Séamus Power was in the process of staging a recovery to keep his PGA Tour hopes alive at the Utah Bank Championship when play was again suspended for darkness at Black Desert Resort.
The Waterford man began round two just five shots off the lead but straddling the cutline after an opening one-under 70, but a slow start to round two saw him card two early bogeys and leave himself an uphill task of securing weekend work and the opportunity to salvage valuable FedEx Cup Fall points as he continues to lag well outside the top 100 in the rankings with just three events remaining.
A birdie on the 18th – his ninth hole – helped stem the bleeding, but another dropped shot on the second left him needing to play the final seven in at least a couple under-par to have any chance of making the cut.
He responded with birdies on the par-3 third and par-4 sixth holes, then hit an excellent approach from 286 yards to find the green in two on the par-5 seventh, just before the hooter sounded calling a halt to proceedings.
He’ll return on Saturday morning to a 32-foot eagle putt with the par-3 eighth and par-5 ninth holes to play, and though he’s currently projected to make the cut which sits at -1, it’s likely to move to -2 or lower so two birdies are needed to guarantee his place on the third-round tee sheet.
Playing on a sponsor exemption, Michael Brennan made a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth – his 18th – and then followed with two birdies on the back nine to record a six-under 65 that pushed him to the top of the leaderboard at -10, one clear of Jackson Kuber, Pierceson Coody and Justin Lower.
“It’s very exciting to be in a tour event,” Brennan said. “I wasn’t sure I was going to be play any this fall, so to have the opportunity to play in one is awesome. I’m just very grateful to be here. It’s been a really fun week so far. Hopefully, it stays that way.”
Defending champion Matt McCarty played his opening nine — the back nine on the course — in 28 strokes to turn at -7 and was on 59 watch before playing the remainder in one-over to be part of a three-strong group at -8 that also includes David Ford who has six holes yet to play in round two.
FULL SCORING
