Seamus Power looking for maiden PGA win after keeping Tour card by skin of his teeth
Seamus Power will look to take advantage of a weakened field as he bids to continue the streak of first-time winners in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
With the top 50 in the world eligible to compete in the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, world number 76 Dylan Frittelli is the highest ranked player in the field at The Country Club of Jackson.
But with a total prize fund of USD4.4million (£3.4million) up for grabs, Power has plenty of motivation to follow in the footsteps of defending champion Ryan Armour and previous winners Cody Gribble, Peter Malnati and Nick Taylor in winning a maiden PGA Tour title in Mississippi.
The 31-year-old from Waterford retained his playing privileges in nail-biting fashion in August after missing the cut in the Wyndham Championship, the final event before the FedEx Cup play-offs.
The top 125 players on the points list after that tournament would qualify for the play-offs and keep a full PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season and Power eventually finished 125th, just six points ahead of American Martin Piller.
Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia was in a position to knock Power out of the top 125, but a poor back nine in the final round left the Spaniard 24th in the event and 128th in the FedEx Cup standings.
"When I missed the cut, I assumed I was kind of toast," Power said. "Someone messaged me and said 'Hey, this is going to be really close.' As soon as I started following it, it looked terrible because everyone I didn't want to play well was playing well.
"It's crazy. The whole year and it comes down to just one guy and how he plays nine holes. That's the thing, early in the season, everything counts. It really does. It was a couple of FedEx points here and there.
Early in the season if you're down in 40th position and you think one shot either way wouldn't matter, it can. Six months later, that one shot can really make a difference.
Power will partner Sean O'Hair and Shawn Stefani in the first two rounds in Mississippi, where former major champions Retief Goosen and Lucas Glover are also among the field.
