Séamus Power

At 36, the earnest Irishman is putting together his best season on the PGA Tour. But he'll be the first to tell you his sights are set on something major.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY MORNING, ON THE PHONE FROM HIS HOME IN LAS VEGAS

Dylan Dethier: Hey. It’s St. Paddy’s Day. In the States, how does a guy like you lean into his Irish culture?

Séamus Power: Well, today I’m going to be leaning into it all over the place, probably at some pub in a few hours. Every Irish person is very proud of being Irish. There’s a lot of pride for such a small country.

DD: You grew up in Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city. How on earth did you end up at East Tennessee State?

SP: It’s funny, I remember getting asked that a lot when I first came to college [in 2006]. My freshman year, our starting five were, weirdly, all from Great Britain and Ireland. Our coach, Fred Warren, was one of the first to really embrace international recruiting. Even well before my time there, there was a line of players from Great Britain and Ireland, so everybody back home would have known about East Tennessee State. But look, it’s Johnson City, Tennessee. You’re not necessarily getting the top U.S. recruits there, so [Fred had to] think outside the box. And, for me, it was a great opportunity in terms of a scholarship.

DD: Rory McIlroy was committed to play there too, right?