Berganio Makes Good on Word and Makes Cut

David Berganio Jr. was right.

After finishing with two bogeys down the stretch of the first round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., he virtually guaranteed that he’d play better in the second round and pass some more prominent names.

Brash? Bingo. Accurate? Absolutely.

Berganio delivered Friday by firing a one-over-par 72, besting his first-round score by a shot, and assured himself of making the 36-hole cut on the demanding 6,946-yard course.

Berganio is tied with six players at 145, a group that includes Ben Crenshaw and Phil Mickelson. Colin Montgomerie of Scotland is the leader at 136.

While Berganio shaved a stroke from the first round, the details couldn’t have been more different. On Thursday, Berganio said he played exceptionally well. On Friday, he scrambled on nearly every hole. Berganio used 26 putts.

“I got up and down from everywhere,” Berganio said. “I hit it so (badly).”

On a tight, punitive course, Berganio was practically amazed that he could score so well and play so poorly.

“I was hitting long bunker shots to four feet, two feet,” he said. “I got up and down from rough that was like hay.”

Steve Pate, who lives in Agoura Hills and played at UCLA, shot a 66 that left him at 140. Duffy Waldorf, who lives in Valencia and also played at UCLA, shot 68 and is at 142.

Corey Pavin, an Oxnard native and another former Bruin, shot 73 and is in danger of missing the cut at 151. Because of lighting storms in the area, 18 players did not finish the round. The cut will not be announced until the round is finished early today.

Berganio, playing in his second Open and first as a professional, leads Fuzzy Zoeller and Davis Love III (146) among others.