Waterford golfer hoping to break top-60 with three tournaments remaining

Powering to the finish

Séamus Power has made huge strides in the FedEx Cup Fall series on the PGA Tour and, after taking a week out following his runners-up finish in Bermuda, returns to action at this week’s World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico for one last push to make further inroads.

With just three tournaments left, Power – who has regained his full card for next season – is currently 70th in the standings. His goal of breaking into the top-60 would earn him exemptions to two signature events next year – the Pebble Beach pro-am and the Genesis Invitational.

Fully fit after a troubled couple of years with a hip injury, Power skipped last week’s Mexico Open after his defeat to Austin Smotherman in the playoff in Bermuda. Nevertheless, he ticked the box of securing full playing rights for 2027, when he hopes to work towards getting back into the world’s top-50 from his current spot at 157th with an eye on making his Ryder Cup debut at Adare Manor.

“I still think there’s going to be some good golf left in 2026, but then, I really can’t wait already for 2027,” Power told RTÉ Radio. “To get back into some of these big tournaments, get back into Majors and show them, show myself and others, that my game is back.

“I fully believe, deep down, that my game is good enough and I could play on hard golf courses. I could challenge and win a Major championship. I still have aspirations to try to play a Ryder Cup, and all these things that obviously I haven’t done. I’m not going to stop until I feel like I’ve given everything towards all those goals.”

Masterful return

The uniquely named Fifa Laopakdee – yes, he is named after the football governing body – booked his ticket to the Masters and the Open next year after successfully defending the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in New Zealand.

His back-to-back success ensured the Thai golfer’s return up Magnolia Lane, becoming the sixth amateur to earn an exemption, alongside Amateur Championship winner Stuart Grehan from Co Louth, world number one Preston Stout, US amateur champion Jack Whaley and runner-up Jay Leng Jnr, US mid-amateur champion Andrew Bailey.

One more amateur spot will be awarded to the winner of the Latin America Amateur Championship, which will be played in Mexico in January.

Word of Mouth

“We don’t come to golf tournaments to come top-five. Sometimes, top-five is a great result, but we come to win golf tournaments, and that fine line that I had just took me over the edge” – South Africa’s Casandra Alexandra on claiming the Ladies’ European Tour (LET) order of merit title with two tournaments to spare after adding victory in the Wistron Open in Taiwan to her successes in the KPMG Irish Women’s Open and the Buccellati Italian Open, along with five runners-up finishes, in a dominant season.

The 27-year-old Springbok is guaranteed to finish the season top of the LET (despite two stops remaining) and has risen to number 27 in the world rankings. But her status as European number one isn’t rewarded with an automatic LPGA Tour card for 2027. If she wants to play on the lucrative LPGA circuit next season, she will have to navigate a route through Q-School in Alabama on November 19th-23rd, which seems unfair and worthy of review.

By the Numbers: 3

Three Irish players – Gary Hurley, Niall Kearney and Rónán Mullarney – have made it to the DP World Tour final qualifying, which takes place at Infinitum Golf (Lakes & Hills Courses) in Tarragona, Spain from November 6th-11th.

On this day: November 3rd, 1996

Although considered an unofficial tournament at the end of a long year, New Zealander Frank Nobilio closed out the season with an impressive win in the Subaru Sarazen World Open at Braselton in Georgia to herald his move from the European Tour to the PGA Tour for 1997.

Nobilo had enjoyed a fine season – including a fourth-placed finish in the Masters, a top-10 at the US PGA, and his fifth and final career win on the European Tour in capturing the Deutsch Bank TPC of Europe – despite being hampered by “incredible pain from a shoulder condition”.

The Kiwi played through the pain barrier before undergoing treatment for inflammatory polyarthritis in his wrists and elbows toward the end of the summer and fittingly produced a terrific performance in defence of his title on arrival in Braselton. He came from four shots adrift of Scott Hoch entering the final round to close with a 66 for a total of 16-under-par to finish four clear of Hoch.

It earned Nobilo a pay-day of $342,000 in the limited-field event mainly confined to winners of national opens on the various tours over the past two seasons.

Social Swing

Mind blowing that someone who will probably be ranked in the top 25 in the world when the rankings update can’t have some sort of automatic exemption to the @LPGA – Fellow LET professional Meghan MacLaren, a bit flummoxed by how Casandra Alexander must go to tour school.

The fastest Japanese player to 5 wins (58 starts). Miyu, you are in the history books – the LPGA after Miyu Yamashita’s win in Malaysia, her fifth on the LPGA Tour.

Know the Rules

Q: Your second shot comes to rest on the green. When putting, you hit the ball too hard and it rolls off the green into a bunker. You deem your ball unplayable and take relief by placing another ball on the putting green where you putted from and hole the next putt. What is your score for the hole?

A: Five. Two shots on to the green, one putt that rolls off the green, one penalty stroke for taking unplayable relief under option 19.2a (stroke and distance relief), and one putt that is holed for a total of five strokes.

In the Bag

Miyu Yamashita − Maybank LPGA Championship

Driver: Srixon ZXi Driver (9)

3-Wood: Srixon ZX Mk II (15)

5-Wood: Srixon ZX Mk II (18)

4-Hybrid: Srixon ZX Mk II Hybrid (22)

5-Hybrid: Srixon ZX Mk II Hybrid (25)

Irons: Srixon ZXi5 (6), Srixon ZXi7 (7-PW)

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (48, 52 and 58)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X Putter (Crank neck)

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV