Rohanna looks to build off second-place finish
Tax Day, April 15, in southwestern Pennsylvania was greeted with rain, plunging temperatures and snow showers.
The Ides of April in Cordoba, Argentina, had temperatures in the high 60s, low humidity and no rain.
Fortunately for Waynesburg’s Robert Rohanna, the next stop of the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica schedule — the 83rd Abierto OSDE del Centro — is in Argentina, not Greene County.
“The weather is like a perfect fall day in Pennsylvania. It’s 50 (degrees) at night and 70 as the high,” Rohanna said via Facebook Messenger, adding with a chuckle, “I heard it’s snowing. That’s unfortunate.”
Rohanna is looking to build off his second-place finish in the Mundo Maya Open in Mexico two weeks ago. The Penn State graduate finished in a six-way tie for second, winning $8,338 to move up to 17th place in the Order of Merit.
The Cordoba Golf Club’s par-71, 6,878-yard layout has a familiar feel to Rohanna.
“The course is very similar to a northern course — tree-lined fairways, super tight, fast and undulating greens. You miss a fairway and it’s probably a 90 percent chance you are punching out,” described Rohanna. “The tree-lined fairways make it difficult for even the straightest hitters.
“It has some similar looks to the Links (at Nemacolin), though. The fairways are tight and the greens are really small. The course is very sloped, though. Making a lot of putts will be a challenge. Even putts inside of 5 feet are sneaky, lots of sliders and fast.”
Rohanna plans to keep it simple, not checking his card or the scoreboard.
“I’m trying to play golf nowadays without a ‘need to or have to’ mindset. That puts even more pressure on yourself and I think that’s my biggest issue,” said Rohanna. “Whatever happens, happens.”
Rohanna will play in the pro-am today as a prelude to Thursday’s opening round.
“I’m playing in the pro-am, so I have to post a score for that,” said Rohanna.
Rohanna might get a “who’s that” from his playing partners in the pro-am, especially considering who’s playing just ahead.
“I mean, Angel Cabrera is three groups in front of me,” said Rohanna. Cabrera, the Argentinian affectionately called “El Pato (the duck),” is the defending champion of the tournament.
Rohanna, Argentinian Gustavo Acosta and Brazilian Rodrigo Lee tee off No. 1 at 8:10 a.m. (local time) in Thursday’s first round and at 12:50 p.m. off No. 10 in the second round.
The tournament runs Thursday through Sunday with the field pared to the top 55 (and ties) after the second round.