Seamus Power returns to PGA Tour action at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, and there is a lot to play for as he looks to secure his position in the ‘Next 10’ at the conclusion of the FedEx Fall series and gain access to the first couple of Signature Events in 2025.
Thanks largely to his victory at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in late 2022 and solid early 2023 form, Power was in all of the big events in 2024, but early-season injury niggles didn’t help his cause. Still, a T10 finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship saw him climb to 54th in the FedEx rankings, and though that was four too high to make the field for the BMW Championship, it leaves him well-placed going into the final portion of the year.
From here on in, however, it’s a dogfight as those on the ‘125’ bubble are fighting for their 2025 playing rights and a couple of good weeks could vault you up the rankings and into the valuable top-10. It’s also likely that most of the upcoming tournament winners will be inside the top 50, so we can expect big jumps up the rankings.
This boils down to the fact that, though Power is well positioned, he needs to play well over the remaining stretch. A tournament win will guarantee his place at the The Sentry in Hawaii, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, but a strong finish will also go a long way to wrapping up his place in latter two.
He last competed at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2022 where he finished tied for 30th, but it’s a venue he loves and contended on debut in 2016. That’s a long time ago, granted, but a good driver of the ball who can get hot with his putter is a recipe that’s been very well served in past editions of this tournament and it’s a recipe that fits the bill when Power is on song.
His last competitive start in 2024 was at Royal County Down three weeks ago where he finished a respectable, if not spectacular, 26th, but despite growing up in Ireland, links is not his natural terrain and, having lived in America for so long, is much more comfortable on US-style courses.
Last year’s edition was won by Luke List, who holed a monster birdie-putt on the first playoff hole to beat Ludvig Aberg, Ben Griffin, Scott Stallings and Henrik Norlander in what was one of the unlikeliest and most thrilling tournament finishes on the PGA Tour calendar. And three of the five are back this year with Stallings and Aberg the absentees.
Tournament favourite, however, is Nick Dunlap, who was one of the success stories of 2024 when he became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson back in 1991 when he topped the pile at the American Express Championship in January.
Dunlap is one player who doesn’t need to worry about his Signature Event status as, despite that first victory not counting towards his rankings, he did enough over the rest of the season and added another victory at the Barracuda Championship to climb into the top 50.
For the rest of the field though, there are big stakes involved and Power knows only too well the value of competing for the biggest prizefunds and the highest rankings points.
He gets his opening round underway at 18:23 Irish time alongside Adam Schenk and Lee Hodges.