Power falls back as Harrington tips Hovland for Ryder Cup

Seamus Power lost his driving mojo and shot a level par 70 to see his victory hopes fade in the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

The West Waterford star — who will be joined at next month's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open by English trio Matt Wallace, Eddie Pepperell and Tyrrell Hatton— hit just four fairways at TPC River Highlands to end the day tied for 36th on four-under par.

He's seven strokes behind Web.com Tour graduate Zack Sucher (32), who followed his opening 64 with a 65 to lead by two shots on 11-under par from Chez Reavie and Keegan Bradley, who both posted 66s.

Pádraig Harrington was inside the cut line with three to play after a birdie four at the sixth (his 15th) but he bogeyed the seventh and eight and shot a two-over 72 that left him two shots outside the cut mark on level par.

The Dubliner has 15 months to go before the Ryder Cup and he believes Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who made the cut on the mark in Connecticut after rounds of 67 and 71 on his professional debut, could make his team.

Speaking to Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio on Friday he said:

“The most interesting thing that came out of last week is Viktor Hovland. At the end of the day, I want to ask myself, ‘Is he possibly going to be in my team next year?’ Every Ryder Cup throws up two or three rookies, there’s no way for me to predict all the names that would be in there, but certainly Viktor Hovland showed his colors last week. I would hope that he would take European membership and make an effort to make the team because if he’s as good as he looks, he’ll probably be in that team.”

There was little luck for the Irish at the European Tour's BMW International Open in Munich, where Gavin Moynihan, Paul Dunne and Michael Hoey missed the two-under par cut.

Moynihan shot a 73 to miss out by one stroke on one-under par as Dunne shot 71 for one-over as Hoey's 73 left him two shots further back at Golfclub München Eichenried.

Moynihan came home in 38 to miss out, but Germany's Martin Kaymer played the back nine in five-under 31 en route to a six-under 66 and a two-shot lead over South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout on 11-under.

At the KMPG Women’s PGA, Stephanie Meadow shot a second successive 75 to miss the five-over cut by a shot at Hazeltine National near Minneapolis with Leona Maguire two shots further back after a 74.

Australia’s Hannah Green shot 69 to lead by three shots on seven-under par from Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn. Scores

At the Challenge Tour's Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9, Ruaidhri McGee made the top 64 who qualify for the head to head matches today, carding a level par 71 to tie for 25th on one-under.

Spain's Sebastian Garcia topped the qualifiers on five-under at Valle Romano in Malaga as Whitehead's John Ross Galbraith shot 74 and Tramore's Robin Dawson a 73 to miss out.

On the Staysure Tour, Des Smyth (66) is joint 15th, just four shots behind Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin after making five birdies in a two-under 70 in the Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship at Trevose Golf and Country Club in England.