Séamus Power of Ireland managed to shrug off the letdown of not participating in the recent week’s Masters, presenting an impressive initial round of 65 at the RBC Heritage, one of the key fixtures of the PGA Tour. The Irish golfer started strong at Harbour Town, making four birdies in his initial five holes on a day when his putter was certainly on point.
Power scored birdies from eight,16 and 20 feet on the front 9, and following a sequence of pars, he carried on his birdie run with another at the 10th from a height of 19 feet. A further birdie was achieved at the 13th hole – this time from 32 feet – before the sole bogey of the day at the 17th, where he unfortunately failed to recover from a bunker. However, the golfer from Waterford made a stellar approach to the 18th hole and successfully landed the putt from 16 feet. Upon submission of his scorecard, he was solely in the second position, trailing by two strokes behind the clubhouse lead, JT Poston, who had scored an eight-under-par 63.
Reflecting on his round, Power commented that he was injured last summer and therefore unable to play the latter half of the year. This led to the initial part of this year being somewhat of a trial and error phase as he readjusted. However, he feels he is getting back on track. He revealed that he put up a good performance in Bay Hill and Tampa, though he felt his putter didn’t live up to expectations. He was quite satisfied with his great start at this current event, expressing that things are starting to align nicely.
Shane Lowry managed a round of 70, one under par, which was slightly marred by a double bogey at the fourth hole par 4 where his tee shot had unfortunately ended up in the water. However, he concluded his round on a positive note with birdies at holes 13, 16 and 18.
Scottie Scheffler, despite a demanding Masters, remained in a favourable position among the leaders. The top-ranked golfer in the world has not recorded a single round above par this year. Although an early double bogey at the third hole nearly hindered that, the American came back strong with birdies at the seventh, 16th and 17th holes to complete a two-under-par 69.
He expressed that his performance was significantly better than what the score portrayed. He stated that he had allowed himself some leniency due to fatigue. He made a mistake with his bunker shot at the third hole, which he felt was unusual, suggesting a possible lack of mental clarity. However, he was not discouraged, he showed resilience and had a robust closing game, and was glad to achieve a positive score at the end of the day.
Simultaneously, Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire have kicked off the Chevron Championship well. An important event, being the year’s first women’s game major. Meadow scored below par by one, a 71, while Maguire achieved par status with 72 at The Woodlands, Texas, both of them maintaining proximity to the early clubhouse leader, Lauren Coughlin, the local favourite. Coughlin had an impressive round one, with a six-under 66.
Meadow had a commendable performance on the greens, securing only 25 putts, and managing three birdies alongside two bogies, resulting in her 71 score. Maguire was plagued with few severe errors in between her good golf, her three birdies were offset by a double bogey at the fourth hole and a rescued bogey after a water hitter on 15.
The clubhouse leader Coughlin spent her last fortnight at Augusta, observing the Women’s Amateur and the Masters. This greatly inspired her coming into the championship. She had a great game, having six birdies without a single bogey. She owed it to her new putter and having her spouse as her caddie for the week.
Coughlin shared that her husband had been asking for an opportunity to join her. So, she gave him a slot for these three weeks. She humorously added that her focus on golf might need to be balanced during this time. This set up a new dynamic where her golf wasn’t the sole focus all the time.