Golf pro learns lesson
Berberian hangs among best
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — There are golf professionals and then there are professional golfers.
The two are not the same, as both sides know.
Professional golfers play golf for a living. Golf professionals teach golf for a living. They are involved in the same game but do not live in the same world. At least not most days.
No one has to tell that to Rich Berberian Jr. He knows it because once every year or so he finds himself in one world while being a fulltime resident of the other. It does not make life easy.
“It’s not fun, not at all,’’ Berberian said yesterday of playing in a major championship after shooting an opening round 2-over 72 at the 98th PGA Championship. “It’s what you dreamed about doing as a kid. It’s still what you dream about doing. But when you’re out there, it’s pretty stressful. It is fun later watching the video of your highlights but when you’re out there you know one wild swing and you lose two or three strokes and your tournament is over.’’
Yesterday, the 2016 PGA Club Professionals champion out of Windham (N.H.) Country Club teed it up alongside Rocco Mediate, the every man who nearly beat Tiger Woods in a playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open, and Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA champion. Berberian beat them both.
He also beat four-time major champion Rory McIlroy and this year’s U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson. He dusted them by 2 and 5 strokes, respectively. That was great but it won’t make this morning’s walk to the first tee any easier because he lives in one world and the professional guys live in another.
Such is the difficulty of finding success in a major that Berberian is 7 shots behind leader Jimmy Walker and at 2-over is closer to the cut line than the winner’s circle. This does not mean he isn’t a great golfer. All it means is there are great golfers and then there are PGA Tour golfers, who are something far north of great.
Yesterday, Berberian had to overcome a difficult layout at Baltusrol and the most competitive field of any tournament this year, but also the scalding memory of his dismal first day at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay a year ago. That was a dream quickly broken when his first tee shot went bad. He never recovered, posting a 13-over 83 that assured he’d be going home early. Memories like that die hard.
“I’ve been having nightmares about that tee shot on No. 1 for weeks,’’ he said frankly yesterday.
Last year at the Open, Berberian admitted having the jitters so bad he couldn’t feel his hands or feet when he stepped onto the first tee.
“I knew I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes here that I made last year at the Open,’’ he said. “I’m not afraid of the people I’m playing against. I can play with these guys. It’s just that you can’t prepare for a stage like this. They do this every week. I sit in a pro shop and give lessons. I’m playing one event a year. They know they’re coming back next year.
“This is my one shot. You feel like it’s your only chance. I tried to block that out.’’
He blocked it out well enough to scald his opening drive down the middle and be at even par through 10 holes before four straight bogeys on 12 through 15 could have brought back the nightmare at Chambers Bay. But with that experience now, it didn’t. He settled down, reminded himself the only shot that mattered was the next one, and began a mini-charge.
He just missed a birdie on 16, then birdied the two par-5 closing holes to finish 5 shots ahead of the No. 2 player in the world and 2 shots ahead of the No. 4. That’s golf. While Berberian was buoyed by the way he finished and the hope to make the cut if he posts a number today, McIlroy was hot about a putter that refused to cooperate. After one bogey he threw it down at his bag in disgust. His putter didn’t care. It still wouldn’t listen to his commands.
McIlroy finished at 4-over 74 while taking 35 putts. He also did not birdie a single hole and never made a putt longer than six feet. What this proves is sometimes it’s not just the guys who sit in a pro shop all week who struggle at the most difficult tournaments in golf.
“I’m happy with my game from tee to green,’’ McIlroy said. “Just when I get on the greens, it’s a different story. You give yourself chances the first couple of holes and you don’t convert it. I feel like if I’d holed one of those first two putts it might have been a different story of the day. I’ll need to try and figure it out (but) first and foremost I have to play a good round to get into the weekend. That’s the first objective. Then go from there.’’
What Dustin Johnson was thinking remained a mystery because he declined to speak after his 7-over 77. Seething at his struggles, he walked with dead eyes to the scorers’ tent, then came out in silence and disappeared.
Yesterday it wasn’t just Rich Berberian Jr. who didn’t think golf was fun. The No. 2 player in the world silently agreed with him.
Though many things will be different for the three of them today, the professional golfers and the golf professional will share one thought.
“What’s the cut line?” Berberian asked, long before anyone had a clue what it might be.
Today, at the last major of the year, he will have that question in common with two of the best players in the game.