POWER SURGIE

Seamus Power has gone from being outside the top 400 in the world to two-time PGA Tour winner, Major regular and potential Ryder Cup player in just under two years...

- KIT ALEXANDER

This time last year, Seamus Power was looking forward to playing in his first ever Major at The Masters. He'd qualified by hitting the world's top 50 in January and staying there for the crucial late March cut-off after making the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play quarter-finals. But it was a big step up for a man who had been a pro for six years before gaining his PGA Tour card in late 2016.

The Irishman took it in his stride. He finished T27th, and 12 months later he's inside the top 30 in the world with two PGA Tour wins and two Major top-12s to his name. Like every young golfer, he has fantasised about playing in golf's elite tournaments - and he's made that vision a reality.

"I started playing golf at the age of 12 and it's everyone's dream to play in The Masters. To have that opportunity was very, very special," he says of his debut. "I didn't think it could live up to the expectations, but it was crazy. I was lucky that I had lots of friends and family who were able to come over. The whole thing was special, even my Sunday practice round - just getting out there for the first time and standing on the 1st tee. On that Sunday there are no spectators, so it was just incredible with Simon [Keelan- caddie] and me strolling up the 1st. That's when it kind of hit us. I'd been there a couple of times but never been able to play it, so teeing it up there in The Masters was very special."