Golf

Mark Power clears first hurdle in quest to claim coveted LIV Golf card

Former Walker Cup star shoots a 66 in Riyadh and advances among 21 players who will be joined by a further 28 exempted players in the second round

Mark Power: was pleased following what he said was a 'positive round' at the LIV Promotions tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Mark Power: was pleased following what he said was a 'positive round' at the LIV Promotions tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Philip Reid
Thu Dec 12 2024 - 18:43

Former Walker Cup star Mark Power successfully negotiated the first hurdle in his quest to win a LIV Golf card for next season, after the Mount Juliet-attached professional was among the 21 players to survive the first round of the LIV Promotions tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and progress on to a second round where a further 28 exempted players enter the fray with the scores reset.

Power was part of the hottest three-ball group where his five-under-par 66 along with the 66 posted by Spaniard Borja Virto and English veteran David Horsey (67) saw all three move on to the second round (where all 49 players start from scratch) after which the leading 20 players advance to the final day’s 36-holes with the winner claiming a place on the LIV Golf circuit and 10 players getting spots on the International Series, promoted by the Asian Tour.

While Kilkenny man Power advanced, claiming it to be a “positive round”, there was no joy for the other four Irish players in the field with Matt McClean (68) missing out by one stroke on advancing. Alex Maguire (70), Liam Nolan (70) and Max Kennedy (72) failed to make the cut.

In the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa, a tournament co-sanctioned on the DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour, England’s Andy Sullivan shot a bogey-free eight-under-par round of 64 to claim a one stroke first round lead over a trio of chasers.

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Tom McKibbin – who has cards on both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour for the year ahead – opened with a three-under-par 69, four birdies and a bogey, to lie in tied-19th on a day of hot scoring with 61 players dipping below par.

Challenge Tour graduate Conor Purcell, however, struggled to an opening three-over-par 75 to lie in 121st place with an uphill battle to survive the cut.

Sullivan, a four-time winner on the DP World Tour, two of which came in South Africa, remarked: “It’s important to get off to a good start because you know at the weekend it’s going to get tougher and tougher. This place generally doesn’t get easier so getting off to a good start’s nice, gives you that little bit of a buffer, but you know you’re in for a serious grind over the next couple of days.

“I’ve been putting well. I putted well all of last year and the putting was really good today – saved me a couple of times and I holed some good birdie putts. But I felt like the greens suit me so I’ve just got to keep the long game going.”

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times