Waterford man Séamus Power is enjoying some of the best golf of his career at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
The 34-year-old is leading the pack by five shots going into Day Three of the event. In doing so, he's carved out a bit of history at the links course.
Power has carded back-to-back 64's at the Pro-Am and in doing so - he's overtaken Nick Taylor and Phil Mickelson's in achieving the lowest score ever in the tournament after two days.
Day Two on Friday saw him make 10 birdies on route to another 8 under round. It's the first 36-hole lead of his PGA Tour career to date.
"My wedge play was great," Power said. "Three or four shots I hit very, very close, and the way I've been putting, they were not gimmie birdies, but certainly ones you would expect to make."
What a day for Irish golf 🇮🇪
Seamus Power and Leona Maguire lead the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Drive On Championship after finishing their rounds 👏 pic.twitter.com/shccts6Sb7— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) February 4, 2022
Now ranked 50 in the world, the Irishman has managed to finish in the top fifteen in six of his past seven tournaments. It's been an extraordinary couple of months.
Speaking on the record set at Pebble Beach, Golf Digest compared his character to that of Kobe Bryant. The late basketball legend had a 'job's not finished' mentality.
"It's a nice thing to have, but does anyone know who had the (old record)?" Power asked. "They're only going to remember who won."
"It's a great start for the tournament, but it's only halfway, there's a long way to go and there's a lot of good players in the field that I'm sure are going to make a lot of birdies over the weekend. "
Power is hunting to win his first PGA Tour event since the Barbasol Championship last summer. If history repeats itself, Mickelson and Taylor, the two previous record holders, ended up winning the event.
Seamus Power establishes AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am opening 36-hole record at 16-under 128.
Previous: 129
Phil Mickelson/2005
Nick Taylor/2020 pic.twitter.com/rNQZjtEX1w— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) February 4, 2022
There's a lot on the line for the Waterford golfer as a calendar of major tournaments is on the horizon in 2022. One of those is the upcoming Masters in April.
"You know, people have asked me about it, but it's one of those things that, you would love to be there. Everyone grows up wanting to be in the Masters," Power said.
"But I know that if I play well and do what I'm meant to do I will get there, if not this year, certainly in the future. So that's kind of been my mentality.
"If I get (Augusta), I absolutely will enjoy it. But for now, keep doing what I'm doing and keep enjoying my golf."
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