Local pro going the distance

Rob Labritz has two children, and is playing in his sixth PGA Championship. But the club pro from GlenArbor in Bedford Hills, N.Y., thought making the cut on the number in his own backyard at this PGA Championship at Bethpage Black might have been one of the better moments of his life.

“Yeah, top, top one, top two. Just awesome,” Labritz said after shooting 4-over 74 in the third round on Saturday, going to 8-over for the tournament. “Incredible week.”

Labritz, 47, has made one previous cut at a PGA, coming in 2010 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. But once he found out his two-day total of 4-over was going to allow him to play this weekend, he came out Saturday relaxed — shaking hands with members of his club in the gallery and all those who knew his name.

“I was totally relaxed,” Labritz said. “I felt in my comfort zone. I felt good. I wasn’t nervous. Wasn’t shaking. I just felt great out there. And you know, if I just hit a few more fairways, things could have been different, that’s all. It’s just getting the ball in that fairway.”

Labritz is a short hitter in comparison to most PGA Tour pros — especially tournament leader Brooks Koepka — and he managed to hit 5 of 14 fairways. That made it difficult to reach the putting surfaces from the rough, hitting 9 of 18 greens in regulation.

It was in stark contrast to the stellar 1-under 69 he shot in the second round Friday, a score that enabled him to make the cut and walk on air through the weekend.

“You see this smile?” Labritz said. “I was reflecting with my wife this morning, we were talking a little bit, and she just said, ‘You know, we’ve been prepping for this for a while.’ I told you guys, we’ve been prepping for this for the last year or so, and I’m starting to really feel comfortable out there.

“I mean, I feel comfortable out there. I’m going to continue to prep and continue to work and continue to be the best PGA pro that I can be.”