Rohanna’s roller-coaster day produces even-par round
Robert Rohanna gave away a stroke, then got it back, then gave one away and got it back again, and repeated the process for the rest of his round Thursday during the opening day of the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica’s Mundo Maya Open presented by Heineken at the Yucatan Country Club, El Jaguar course, in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Rohanna finished with an even-par 72 to be in a logjam in 33rd place.
The top 55 finishers (and ties) advance to the third round on Saturday.
Americans Michael Buttacavoli and Chris Meyer and Argentina’s Tommy Coche share the first-round lead at 5-under 67.
Rohanna went out in 1-over 37, but not in a very conventional manner. He started with a par-4, then went bogey-4, bogey-5, par-5, birdie-3, par-4, bogey-4, birdie-4 and par-4.
His scorecard looked the same on the back nine with a par-4, birdie-4, bogey-4, birdie-4, birdie-3, par-3, par-5, bogey-4, and par-4 to come back in 1-under 35.
“I just hit my driver the best I’ve ever hit it in a tournament round today,” Rohanna said with emphasis via Facebook Messenger. “I smoked it all day, dead straight.
“Five birdies, five bogeys and eight pars, wasn’t too bad, but the par-3s hurt me today. I was all around the pin. I only missed two putts that I should’ve made, but my speed was a little off. So, it wasn’t the stroke or anything, just the speed.”
The previous events on the Latin America tour have been at elevation, but the Maya Open is at sea level, windy and hot.
“The high temperature was 100 degrees, and the winds blew around 20, 30 (miles per hour) all day,” explained Rohanna. “The first hole off the tee was dead downwind, then the second shot the wind was from the side. It was just all over the place, swirling everywhere.
“The wind just made it difficult all day. I didn’t make enough putts, but I could have made my round a few under.”
Rohanna goes off No. 10 this morning at 7:20 a.m. (local time). He doesn’t feel he needs to press to get through to Saturday.
“If I just keep playing like I did today, and I’ll be okay,” said Rohanna. “Hopefully, I’ll made a few more on the greens. You can make birdies because of the par-5s, but they are longer and have difficult greens. The course is long and hard, and the wind blows. Three 5-unders isn’t that much for a golf course, so it played tough.”