Field of 312 PGA pros gets the New Mexico treatment

Apr. 30—Round 1 scores

Rounds 1-2 Starting Times

SANTA ANA PUEBLO — Bill Harvey walked off the green and out of the first round, a 1-over 73 in hand and a missed putt for bogey on the par-3 9th hole at Twin Warriors Golf Club to bemoan.

Wind blew west-to-east as Harvey took a beat before giving his thoughts on the first round.

"Hard," he laughed.

Few out there for day one of the 2023 PGA Professional Championships would have disagreed with Harvey, the director of golf at Ladera Golf Course. Sunday at Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Club started off picturesque, a nearly cloudless blue sky complemented by a gentle morning sun.

Then, the wind picked up.

It did not cease.

"Probably the big thing though," Brian Bergstol, a PGA professional from outside Philadelphia said, "was the way the wind goes from nothing to 25-30 miles per hour."

Wyatt Worthington II, a teaching professional based in Ohio, is best known for being the second Black qualifier for the PGA Championship after finishing sixth in the PGA Professional event in 2016. After the dust settled on Sunday, he was the sole leader, carding a 4-under 68 at Santa Ana.

The rest? With a field of 312 PGA certified golf professionals in play, and three late starters didn't finish Sunday evening, the rest of the leaderboard was nothing short of a traffic jam.

Garret Howell, an assistant golf professional at the Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, tied for second with five others at 3-under after feeling some nerves on the first tee at Twin Warriors. No stranger to the Gary Panks design peppered with deep bunkers and even deeper arroyos, Howell leaned into a tried-and-true approach in his first PGA Professional.

That is: hit the fairway, make use of forgiving greens and, above all else, keep it in bounds regardless of the wind. Howell wasn't the only New Mexico-based pro to play to those strengths.

"Having a home-field advantage, that definitely makes a difference as much as we wish it didn't," Howell said. "So, we're going to take advantage of that as much as we can."

Play continues Monday with the second of four rounds. The champion and the top 20 finishers qualify for the to compete in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, New York on May 15-21.

The Championship, which offers a $715,000 purse, has a 36-hole cut Monday to the low 90 scorers and ties, and a 54-hole cut Tuesday to the low 70 and ties.

Vinnie Poncino was another of the 3-under finishers. A professional based in San Clemente, California, this is his third PGA Professional and would've been fourth if not for COVID-19.

"I came in (to the 2023 PGA Professional) in way better form than I did last year," he said. "That was a bonus — playing well coming into it as opposed to last year, not playing well coming into it. Really, the only thing I was concerned about was my putting."

A big part of that was simply getting out to New Mexico early. Poncino flew to Albuquerque last Tuesday and spent time he wouldn't have had at home practicing, building up reps so he'd have the frame of reference to be patient.

"I get to play maybe once a month," he said. "With two kids, it's hard."

Bergstol spoke for the vast middle, tied for 35 with 31 other golfers at even-par with a rough projected cut line of 1-under. Playing in his first PGA Professional after being certified last August, he said he felt a little under the weather as the sun started to bear down on the field in the early afternoon.

"I feel like I would've shot 6-under if I hadn't putted like I was completely brain dead," he said, shaking his head.

Bergstol is also a testament to the strength of the field. He qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open, a footnote near the bottom of Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate's bruising playoff at Torrey Pines. He doesn't know for sure if he loves playing golf, but knows he loves the feeling of competitive golf. More than anything after Sunday, he just wanted to sleep after just around six hours in the sun and wind. He did know one thing, though.

"It's better than teaching lessons and ringing up shirts and doing stuff like that," Bergstol said.

Monday

PGA Professional Championship: Second round, Twin Warriors and Santa Ana GC. Tee times: Begin at 7:15 a.m. TV: 2 p.m., Golf Channel