Séamus Power happy with top dog status at Bermuda Championship

For this week anyway, he’s the top dog. Séamus Power, ranked 48th in the official world rankings, is the headline act at the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Club as the 35-year-old Waterford golfer – unfazed by carrying the weight of favouritism – has targeted a late-year campaign aimed at pocketing as many FedEx Cup points as he can so that he can then also focus on Ryder Cup qualifying.

Power’s autumnal stretch of events started with last week’s CJ Cup and this week’s tour stop in Bermuda will be followed by the Mayakoba in Mexico next week and, after that, most likely the RSM Classic in South Carolina.

It’s all part of a plan to rack up FedEx Cup points early in the season so that he can adopt some fluidity in his scheduling through 2023, with the intention of impressing Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.

“The first and foremost [goal] is going to be the FedEx Cup. Like I love what I do, but it is your job at the end of the day. So that’s the first thing you want to make sure you keep,” said Power.

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“You’ve got to rack up FedEx Cup points, you’ve got to do as well as you can there. That’s kind of what happened and I ended up in the top-50 [in the world], my good play pushed me up there rather than me driving towards it. I’ve always thought that if I play well, the rankings will take care of themselves.

“Obviously having the Ryder Cup [next year], which every European dreams of [playing], that’s going to be in the back of you mind too. Again, if you play well, I feel like it will take care of itself. But what an honour that would be and that’s always going to be a goal ... but first and foremost will be the FedEx Cup and making sure you hold on to your job!”

Power, who achieved a breakthrough win on the PGA Tour last year when lifting the Barbasol Championship, enjoyed strong performances in the Majors this year (27th at the Masters, ninth at the US PGA and 12th at the US Open with the only blip being a missed cut at the 150th Open) and doesn’t believe being cast in the role of a favourite this week will carry any extra weight.

As he put it, “honestly every time you tee it up you’re planning at least in your mind that you’re going to be in contention to win and that’s not going to be any different. I guess it’s kind of a cool thing. But no, not really any extra pressure. You have all this internal pressure, you’re trying to get yourself to do all the things and prepare well and then kind of go from there.”

Power, indeed, has made Bermuda one of his favoured tour stops of the season and will be making a fourth appearance in the tournament, having finished tied-12th last year.

“It’s unique, even something as small as like the ferry coming across to the course, I find like it’s different and it’s a beautiful place,” said Power, adding of the challenge presented by a course where the wind is constant:

“It’s just handling the conditions. Even this week I think the wind is going to switch again. I remember, I think just about every year like the holes can be completely different. I mean, even that par-five seventh, like I’ve hit sand wedge in there for a second shot and I’ve hit 3-wood.

“You just kind of adapt and figure out what’s going on in terms of the wind and where you want to leave it. It can change dramatically overnight and I think that’s one of the things I’ve been good at. Growing up in Ireland, we get a lot of similar conditions so we’re kind of used to it, but I think just adapting as you go is going to be a huge benefit around here,” said Power.

Lowdowns

Bermuda Championship

Purse: €6.5 million (€1.15m to the winner)

Where: Southampton, Bermuda

The Course: Port Royal Golf Club – 6,828 yards, par 71 – is a Robert Trent Jones seaside design that previously played host to the annual Grand Slam of Golf tournament from 2009 to 2014 which featured all four Major winners of a given year, which is no longer played. The golf course project started in the mid-1960s but, due to land disputes, wasn’t completed until 1970 and it was further renovated under the supervision of Roger Rulewich and reopened in 2009. The feature hole is the dramatic clifftop par-three 16th hole, which measures 235 yards with both tee and green adjacent to the cliff.

The field: A far cry from the loaded field which contested The CJ Cup, reflected in the fact that Séamus Power, the world number 48, is the top-anked player competing ... a number of interesting sponsor’s invites include Irish Open champion Adrian Meronk and veteran John Daly.

Quote-Unquote: “I love Europe. That’s how I got on tour and that’s how I got inside the top-75 in the world, thanks to Europe. So I’m really grateful to be able to play on the European Tour as well, but PGA Tour is where I want to commit now for the next couple of years. And this year it will be my full commitment to the PGA Tour.” – Belgian Thomas Detry, who has JP Fitzgerald on the bag, on an increased focus on playing on the PGA Tour.

Irish in the field: Séamus Power is in a group with Nick Taylor and Tyler Duncan (off the first at 4.48pm Irish time).

Betting: Putting has been the key to past wins in Bermuda – on a shortish course and where wind is a factor – and, as such, Denny McCarthy’s stats with the short stick have seen him installed as 16-1 favourite. Séamus Power is rated a 20-1 shot, however, some decent each-way value can be found with the 150-1 about Harry Higgs, who was 54-hole leader on his only appearance in 2020 when he finished runner-up.

On TV: Sky Sports (live coverage from 6.30pm).

Portugal Masters

Purse: €2 million (€350,000 to the winner)

Where: Vilamoura, Portugal

The course: Designed by legendary American Arnold Palmer, the Victoria course – 7,191 yards, par 71 – has played host to the tournament since its inception in 2007 and previously held the World Cup in 2005 (when it was won by the Wales team of Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge). Water is a common feature of the layout, typified by the three holes that make up the so-called “Victoria Corner” of the 11th, 12th and 13th: the par-four 11th has water in play down the left, the par-five 12th is a risk-reward hole with water in play off the tee and on the approach to the green, while the par-three 13th again requires a tee shot across a lake.

The field: The in-form Robert MacIntyre – trending nicely back up to 67th in the world rankings and with a recent Italian Open success – is among a strong field that also features last week’s Mallorca Open winner Yannick Paul. At the other end of affairs, there are many players fighting to retain their tour cards as this is the last regular tournament of the season.

Quote-Unquote: “Winning always stands above everything, you want to win tournaments. It’s what you practice for. To win in my first year was one of my goals, but to accomplish [in Mallorca] is amazing. I just want to keep improving, keep getting better. My goal at the beginning of the season was to get to Dubai, that was a good goal with not getting into the big events. To accomplish that is amazing. Now I want to get to Dubai and get in contention come Sunday” – Yannick Paul on raising expectations after his Mallorca Open win.

Irish in the field: Jonny Caldwell is in a group with John Catlin and Jeff Winther (off the 10th at 1pm); Cormac Sharvin is grouped with Leon Hugo and Raphael Jacquelin (off the 10th at 1.40pm).

Betting: With three top-10s, including a win, in his last four tournament outings, Robert MacIntyre has hit a rich vein of form and is the market leader at 12-1 while last week’s Mallorca Open winner Yannick Paul is rated an 18-1 chance to go back-to-back. Tom Lewis, a past champion on this course, is 40-1 while Paul Waring is also worth an each-way look at 33s.

On TV: Sky Sports (live coverage from 1pm).