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Happy to finish, Rohanna ties for ninth

By Mike Dudurich for The 4 min read
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Holly Tonini

Robert Rohanna lines up the ball to the pin during the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational, Wednesday.

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Holly Tonini

Robert Rohanna placed 9th in the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational held at the Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel.

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Holly Tonini

Robert Rohanna (right) and competitor Matt Schall follow the ball after a Rohanna drive during the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational Wednesday.

FOX CHAPEL — This was an endurance test for Waynesburg’s Robert Rohanna.

It wasn’t exactly running a marathon for three straight days but for a golfer who has played just two weeks since Dec. 16, getting in four rounds on a difficult golf course coming off an injury was pretty close.

With final results posted, it’s safe to say Rohanna passed the test on Wednesday.

After a tentative 77 in the first round, Rohanna finished with 68-67-74. That put him in a tie for ninth.

“I hit the ball as good as I did when I had the 68,” he said. “It wasn’t quite as good as the 67, but I’m not concerned about the ball-striking, it was pretty good.”

On a Pittsburgh Field Club course that took on a deluge of rain Tuesday, the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational was completed in sloppy but playable conditions.

David Bradshaw of Harpers Ferry, W.Va. became a two-time winner in the Tri-State PGA’s richest event by shooting a final-round 70 to win by three shots over Andrew Mason of Huntingdon Valley and Eric Cole of Tequesta, Fla.

Bradshaw, who has won the West Virginia Open seven times, took home a $40,000 check Wednesday.

Rohanna won a little over $4,800 for his finish, and while that’s always a good thing, his main concern was getting through four rounds with a still sore thumb on his left hand.

“It’s sore,” he admitted. “But seriously, being able to play 72 holes of golf was a very good thing for me.

As expected on putting surfaces with as much moisture in them as these did, getting the ball into the hole was an adventure at times.

“I three-putted four times today,” Rohanna said. “The greens were a little rough today and that’s understandable. If I don’t do that, however, that 74 becomes something a whole lot better.”

Rohanna was off to the Pirates-Reds game last night and said after that he’d begin the process of getting back out and playing some more events but he was unsure how that would play out.

Bradshaw, on the other hand, knows what he’ll be doing. Only one player has won the West Virginia Open more than him, and that player happens to be the legendary Sam Snead.

So he’ll be getting ready to add his collection of wins when that tournament comes up on the schedule next month.

But Bradshaw, who won the event in 2012, knew he was going to be in for a dogfight Wednesday at the Field Club.

He finished off his third round early in the day, shooting a 31 on the back nine that vaulted him to the top of the scoreboard going into the final 18.

“The golf course was more difficult this year, but I was playing better this week,” he said.

Things were definitely more difficult in the final round as he made four birdies and four bogeys to shoot 70.

“It got to be a matter of Eric (Cole) and I once we got into the final round,” he said. “(Mike) Van Sickle stuck his head up a little bit, but wasn’t really into it. I believed all day it was going to come down to the last few holes and it did.”

Cole, the defending champion, bogeyed the final two holes and Bradshaw stuffed a 5-iron from 221 yards to about eight feet on the final hole to seal the victory by three shots.

Cole finished in a tie for second with Andrew Mason at two-under par, one shot ahead of Mike Van Sickle.

“I played pretty solid today, but just didn’t make enough putts,” Van Sickle said. “My day got off to a tough start at the end of my third round. I three-putted the 15th and 16th, which is never a good thing. The greens had been cut when we went out to finish the third round and it was like putting on the fairway. That took the wind out of my sails.”

Mason’s round of 68 was the only one under par in the final 18.

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