Power grabs early lead in Kansas

Jun 26, 2015 - 2:09 AM Wichita, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Ireland's Seamus Power fired a 7-under 63 in Thursday's opening round and was one stroke ahead of four players at the Air Capital Classic.

Power missed the cut in five of his first seven starts this season, but has two top-15 finishes in his last four starts.

Dawie van der Walt, who won the Chile Classic in March, opened with a 6-under 64 on the North Course at Crestview Country Club. He was joined in second by D.H. Lee, Timothy Madigan and Henrik Norlander.

Adam Crawford, Matt Weibring and Si Woo Kim shared sixth place at minus-5. Andrew Landry, who won in Colombia earlier this year, headlines a group of 13 players tied for ninth at 4-under 66.

Power parred the 10th, then chipped in for eagle at the short par-4 11th. After three more pars, he dropped in a birdie effort at the 15th.

The Irishman converted back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 en route to making the turn at minus-5.

Power birdied the par-5 second and picked up another stroke at the fourth. He made it two in a row as he also birdied the par-3 fifth to climb to 8-under. However, Power tripped to a bogey at the sixth. He closed with three straight pars from the seventh.

"It's a nice start, but that's all it is - a nice start. This is a good test. You don't get away with things. If you miss a shot, that wind is going to put you in spots you don't want to be in. You've got to make sure you're hitting it solid," Power stated. "You have plenty of chances out here, but you have to limit your mistakes. You have to drive it in the fairway, even if you have to hit iron off the tee."

Van der Walt also started on the back nine and got going with birdies at 11 and 15. He faltered to a bogey at the 18th and made the turn at minus-1.

The South African flew up the leaderboard as he birdied the first three holes around the turn. Van der Walt also birdied six and seven to move within one of the lead.

Lee had an eagle, five birdies and a bogey in his 64, while Madigan had seven birdies and bogey at the eighth. Norlander also had seven birdies and a bogey in his round, but almost didn't make the start.

Norlander thought he had a 7:40 a.m. ET tee time, but was actually scheduled for 7:30. An official found him in time and he made it to the tee with seconds to spare.

"I don't what happened to have me think it was 7:40. I had to run to get there and I made it by about 15 seconds," Norlander stated. "Luckily, I was hitting third off the tee."

NOTES: Ryan Spears, a member at Crestview, opened with a 67 ... Defending champion Sebastian Cappelen posted an even-par 70 and was tied for 59th.