Rohanna opens with even-par in Pennsylvania Open
Robert Rohanna had an average-type round of golf Monday in the opening round of The Allegheny Health Network 99th Open Championship with an even-par 71.
The Waynesburg Central grad is tied for 19th after the first of three rounds at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, 10 miles west of Philadelphia.
Newport’s Kevin Kraft holds the lead after the first round at 5-under 66.
The field will be cut down to the low 40 scores (and ties) after today’s second round.
Rohanna started on No. 10, a 244-yard par-3, with a par. He followed with five more pars until he got to No. 16, a 163-yard par-3.
Rohanna bogeyed the hole, but got the stroke back with a birdie-4 on No. 18, a 527-yard par-5.
Rohanna made the turn with a par, but bogeyed No. 2, a 433-yard par-4.
As he had on the front, Rohanna quickly responded with a birdie to pull even for his round after 12 holes.
Rohanna slipped to 1-over for the round with a bogey-4 on No. 6, a 190-yard par-3, but recovered with a birdie on the next hole, a 515-yard par 4.
He parred out to finish even-par on both sides.
“I didn’t do anything special. I hit some really good shots,” said Rohanna. “This course is pretty tough. The greens are super elevated and the bunkers are so deep. It’s tough to miss at the right places on the greens.
“The greens are sloped a lot. Every shot is uphill. It’s tough to hone in on distance control and that leads to tough putts. I was struggling to get two-putts.”
Rohanna played both the par-3s and par-4s in 1-over, while he scored 2-under on the par-5s. As with most golfers, Rohanna felt he left a couple strokes out on the course.
“I had a chance to shoot under par. I had a couple close putts for birdies, but missed them,” said Rohanna. “Hopefully, I’ll make up for them tomorrow.”
Rohanna goes off No. 1 at 8 a.m. in the second round.
“We’re supposed to get some weather tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get a couple strokes and stand (in good position) going into the final round.”
Rohanna iced down his injured thumb after applying electric stimulation after he completed his round.
“I just stinks it hasn’t moved as I like. Mentally, I tell myself it’s getting better. When I hit good shots, it doesn’t hurt that much,” explained Rohanna. “I feel I have my speed back. I hit it just as far as I did.”
Rohanna had a tough finish in last year’s tournament. He held a 3-stroke lead with four holes to play after carding a birdie-4 on No. 14, but a couple of unfortunate shots cost him the advantage down the stretch.
Rohanna lost the three-player playoff to finish tied for second place.