Séamus Power and Pádraig Harrington saw their hopes of qualifying for the Masters fade in the $9.5 million Valero Texas Open.
The Rio Olympics teammates need to win at TPC San Antonio to clinch the last spot in next week’s field at Augusta National.
But they were well off the pace early on day one after Power carded a level par 72 to share 65th and trail leader Sam Ryder by nine shots and Harrington posted a 73 that left him joint 90th.
Ryder carded a nine-under 63 to lead by a shot from Keith Mitchell and by three shots from Brian Harman.
Better news for the Irish came in the Joburg Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour, where Lauren Walsh produced a scintillating back nine to surge into contention for her maiden win.
The Carton House touring professional opened with ten straight pars at Modderfontein Golf Club before making birdies at the second, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth to roar home in five-under 32 for an opening 68.
At five-under-par, the Kildare native was tied for fourth with India’s Pranavi Urs (14 holes), just three shots behind Mimi Rhodes, when play was suspended late in the afternoon due to a flooded course.
The English rookie shot an eight-under 65 to lead by a shot from South Africa’s Casandra Alexander and by two from Singapore’s Shannon Tan.
“It was pretty solid round, bogey-free, which is always nice,” Walsh said. “I hit the ball okay on the front nine and in the end just kept it to pars, which kept me going.
“Then I just stayed patient and knew the chances would come in on the back nine. I was able to hit one close on two, which kick-started the back nine, then made five birdies, which was great.”
Rhodes (23) made eight birdies in a bogey-free effort in her bid for back-to-back wins following her breakthrough victory in the Ford Women’s NSW Open.
“The momentum is definitely still there from Australia and it’s helping me for sure at the start of this tournament,” she said.
“It’s only a week later, so it has really boosted my confidence and especially my putting. I’m in a really good headspace right now and it’s just positive vibes out there.”
It was a tougher day for Kirkistown Castle’s Beth Coulter (21) in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat.
The Co Down talent went into the second round inside the top 30 and ties who qualify for the final round at Augusta National tomorrow.
But she followed her opening 72 with a five-over 77 to finish 57th and miss the one-under-par cut by six shots.
Like the rest of the field, she will still get to play a practice round at the Masters venue today and defending champion Lottie Woad is looking forward to seeing the changes to the course.
The world number one added a 70 to her opening 65 to share the lead with American Kiara Romero (68) on nine-under, a shot ahead of overnight leader Megha Ganne (73) and Spanish duo Carla Bernat Escuder (68) and Andrea Revuelta (66),
“I think just seeing if it’s just visually different after the storm,” said Woad, who is bidding to become the first player to retain the title.
“I’ve heard they’ve redone some greens. So just get used to that. But it’s always fun playing there.”
