CROMWELL, Conn. — Once Seamus Power finished his second round on 18 on Friday he hustled up the hill toward the clubhouse sporting a toothy grin, pleased with his 5-under-par 65 second round that helped him make the Travelers Championship cut.
Power looked down for a few seconds and then glanced quickly to his left — half of his focus on getting up the hill, half on the fans.
There was one fan who stood out. Tim O’Brien, a Glastonbury resident, wore a bright green shirt that featured Power’s face on its front, and the outline of the Irish map overlayed with the orange, white and green colors of the flag on its back – “Team Seamus,” it read.
As Power ran up the hill, O’Brien called out to him, sure to let the 36th-ranked player in the world know: “I’ve got to get a signature afterward!”
“I saw him,” Power said minutes later, tilting his head back with laughter.
“Hopefully I can get some more people like that going forward.”
O’Brien became a fan after watching last season right as Power’s career began to take off. The Irish golfer had four top-10 finishes in 2020-21, including a Barbasol Championship win after six playoff rounds. That July 2021 win made him just the fifth player from Ireland to win a PGA Tour event.
In the 2021-22 season, Power has five top-10 finishes and is No. 23 in the PGAs FedExCup standings. He finished 12th at the U.S. Open a week before coming to Travelers.
For O’Brien, who is of Irish heritage, Power was an easy and immediate favorite. “I just liked him,” he said.
“Eighteen months ago that wouldn’t have been a thing. Your face gets out there a little bit more, you’re on TV a little bit more, and good golf kind of leads to that (fan support),” Power said.
A group with history
Harris English, the 2021 champion, rolled in a 20-foot putt to birdie the ninth hole Friday just after TPC River Highlands amateur record-holder Patrick Cantlay shot out of the right-side bunker, six feet from the hole. It took Cantlay five shots to finish, but his bogey left the pair each 9-under through two rounds.
“I’m really comfortable around this golf course and feel like that’s only an advantage for me,” Cantlay said after shooting 6-under par 64 in the first round Thursday.
He was just 19 when he shot 10-under par 60 in the 2011 Travelers second round to tie the course record. English made history in 2021 after winning the second-longest playoff in PGA history.
Making up ground
Nick Hardy was one of nine golfers to shoot 6-under par 64 in the second round, which jumped him 13 spots into a tie for second on the leaderboard heading into the weekend.
“I just was in great rhythm,” he said. “That’s kind of been the name of the game for me since I came back. I think I’m swinging the club well and my mind is in a good spot.”
By shooting 7 under in round two, Harold Varner III made up for a 2 over first round and made the cut. Korean K.H. Lee highlighted his second-round 64 with an eagle on 13. Adam Svensson, Harry Higgs and Scott Stallings also shot 6-under.
Who missed the cut
With the cut set at 2 under, several big names will leave Cromwell early. Highlighting the list were world No. 9 Sam Burns and world No. 11 Jordan Spieth. Burns shot an even par through each of the first two rounds after six birdies and six bogeys. After shooting 5-over 75 Thursday, Spieth had ground to make up Friday. He made a push with four birdies — three on the front nine — but came up three strokes short at 1 over.
Last year’s second-place finisher, Kramer Hickock, was cut from the field after shooting 1-under. Joaquin Niemann, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Aaron Wise also missed the cut, among others.
The 19-year-old Milford native and University of Virginia commit Ben James came up just three strokes short in his first PGA event after finishing 1 under on Friday and 1 over overall.
“I mean, it’s so cool. The course was in phenomenal shape, and we got treated like Tour players — it’s higher than what my expectations were. It’s awesome,” James said.
Fairfield native J.J. Henry shot 1 under to miss the cut in addition to West Hartford’s Adam D’Amario.
