Double PGA Tour winning Seamus Power will seek the advice of three European Ryder Cup captains in a goal not to fall into any selection trap that could spoil a chance of making the Rome team.
Power effectively moved into third place on the 2023 ‘World’ points European selection points table, and with top-3 qualifiers on both the ‘European’ and ‘World’ table to win automatic selection for Luke Donald’s side. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry are top-3 but they currently top on both tables but it will be the ‘European’ they would qualify if the team were chosen this week.
At the end of qualifying at next year’s BMW PGA Championship, Donald will then choose six ‘wildcard’ picks to make-up the 12-man team he’ll take in late Septermber to the Italian capital.
And to avoid any new season competition scheduling nightmares, as we’ve seen in the past including young Scot Robert MacIntyre spoil qualifying for Padraig Harrington’s Whistling Straits team by choosing to head to the States instead of staying in Europe in an unsuccessful attempt at securing his PGA Tour card, Power’s going to be talking with both Donald, Harrington and victorious 2014 captain Paul McGinley on where to play to boost a now strong goal to make Donald’s side.
“That is one of the things I am going to definitely talk to Luke about,” Power said via a Zoom call ahead of this week’s Mayakoba Championship in Mexico.
“There is a tricky balance playing over here in the States and this is where my latest win helps, as you are going to have to at least focus on staying in that top-60 on the FedEx Cup at the end of the season. You want to be aware of that and my second win will help take care of that.
Seamus Power – Photo PGA Tour/Twitter
“This is why I am going to talk to Luke about my new-season schedule as he played a lot of his career in the US, so he is going to be good to talk to.
“I remember in 2016 when I was in Rio for the Olympic Games golf and Paul McGinley (Irish Team Captain) was telling me about a golfer who would have been given a Ryder Cup pick if he had of gone and shown a lot more interest if he had to teed-up in the Made in Denmark in the week close to end of Ryder Cup qualifying and the player didn’t go and didn’t’ get the pick.
“So, I don’t want a situation like that and that’s why I will seek Luke’s advice. I will also talk to Paul and Padraig, with both being former Ryder Cup captains, as to what they would like to see from a guy based in the US but still wants to play for Europe in a Ryder Cup. So, I will be talking to those guys before locking-in my new schedule.
“As I’ve said, this second win helps a lot, gives me more flexibility going forward.”
With that in mind, and with Power being exempt on the PGA Tour till the end of 2024/25 season, he is planning to contest the two opening 2023 DP World Tour events in Abu Dhabi – the January 13-15 Hero Cup and the following week’s HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship.
The Hero Cup is a 12-man, two-team, all-European event replacing the Seve Trophy (2000-2013) and the EurAsia Cup (2014-2018) and with this new event also looking to serve as a possible selection guide for Ryder Cup competition.
“I spoke briefly with Luke last Wednesday night at the pre-tournament party held in the Bermuda hotel and he mentioned this new event and he mentioned some of the details about it, GB&I vs. Europe team event and just some of the options I might have,” said Power.
“My manager also is going to look into the Abu Dhabi Championship and in that way, the trip would be worthwhile as it’s a long way to go just one event.”
Power is the lone Irishman in this week’s $US 8.2m event in Mexico.
