Seamus Power tamed the brutal opening round conditions to be just a shot off the lead heading to the second round of the $20m Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Power was the very first out on a wet and miserable day, not only for players and caddies but spectators and was clearly delighted to get into the comfort of the clubhouse with a three-under 69 and just a shot behind American Denny McCarthy.
McCarthy capped his round 68 eagling the par-5 18th hole while it is his fifth career 18-hole lead/co-lead and a second this season (Sony Open in Hawaii/finished T16).
The official post-round weather details were pretty much as GolfByTourMiss had forecasted: Wet and dreary. Waves of light to moderate rain. High of 59. Wind SSW 8-14 mph, gusting to 28 mph.
QUICKLY IN GOOD @thegenesisinv COMPANY …
As man Seamus Power @Power4Seamus goes knocking on a 3rd #PGAT door that may open on a rookie @RyderCupEurope selection
Read: https://t.co/JfEgFUECXk
✅ @TOURMISS pic.twitter.com/MoX9dyUF0h
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) February 14, 2025
Power’s superb effort in the preferred lie rule conditions is his lowest first-round score in five career starts at The Genesis Invitational.
“Honestly the toughest part was just getting it on the fairways today”, he said.
“You’re wearing extra layers. It almost feels harder in these sort of conditions and as soon as you miss a fairway you’re in big trouble. So that was a big thing. If you get on the fairways, the greens are soft enough that you could get to some pins.
“The trickiest part of the day, which I wouldn’t have expected, is they put a lot of pins in higher spots. With the softness of the greens it was difficult to get short irons and wedges close to the hole, tough to take enough spin off it. I thought that was one of the surprising tough
things of the day”.
After representing Ireland at the 2016 Rio Olympics Seamus finally burst on scene at regular tournament level in both 2021 and 2022 to win on the PGA Tour but then a hip injury put paid to his chances of making the 2023 European Ryder Cup team.
Now the soon-to-be 38-year-old’s Irishman’s name is again being mentioned as possible selection ahead of this September’s Ryder Cup showdown at Bethpage Park Black.
“Yeah, I mean, realistic for me, I’ve got to win at least one time, even one win”, he said.
“Obviously it depends on the win, but I feel like if you get multiple wins and get all the way to Atlanta, it’s going to be tougher for him not to pick you.
“That’s going to be my goal. I feel like if I reach a lot of my own things I kind of want to do and the goals I set for myself, I feel like things like that will kind of fall in place.”
Wishing one of the nicest guys in the men’s pro game best wishes.
