Baltusrol Golf Club features no par-5s on the front nine, and none on the other nine, either, until back-to-backers on 17 and 18.
So the pros in Springfield, N.J., for the PGA Championship hope to feast on the only par-5s on the course and write down birdie or better, and maybe thus salvage something from a round gone bad.
It worked Thursday for Rich Berberian Jr., the national club pros champion playing in his first PGA. Birdies on the closing holes brought his opening round back into reasonable shape at two-over 72 after a four-hole stretch of bogeys on 12 through 15 ballooned a decent scorecard to plus-4.
Friday, when he opened on the back nine, he played 17-18 in bogey-par, which did nothing to make up for bogeys on 10, 11 and 15. On the front nine, his lone birdie on the par-3 2nd was offset by bogeys on 3 and 7.
His 72-74-146, six over par, will not get him to the weekend, with the cut line expected to be at plus-1 or plus-2.
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