Berganio Slips in U.S. Open as Luck Runs Out

A day earlier, David Berganio Jr. got away with it.

But, in the third round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont County Club in Oakmont, Pa., Berganio’s good fortune disappeared and he finished with a five-over-par 76, his worst round of the tournament.

“I kind of struggled all day,” Berganio, 25, said Saturday. “I’m not hitting the ball real well. I wasn’t hitting the ball real well (Friday), but today it caught up with me.”

Berganio, playing in his first Open as a professional, shot a 72 in the second round on Friday to make the 36-hole cut on the demanding 6,946-yard course.

A day later, Berganio misfired on several drives and subsequently fell deeper into the pack of also-rans.

He parred the first two holes, but three-putted on the third and finished with a bogey on the 421-yard, par-4 hole. He bogeyed the sixth and seventh holes, then had a chance to get even early on the back nine, but missed a 10-foot putt for an eagle and didn’t recover.

“(I’m in) the fourth round of the U.S. Open,” he said. “A lot of people are wishing they were here, so I’m not gonna sulk over a 76.”

Heading into today’s final round, Ernie Els of South Africa is in the lead. Els, who shot a 66 on Saturday, is at seven-under-par 206, two strokes ahead of Frank Nobilo.

Steve Pate, a resident of Agoura Hills who played at UCLA, fired a par 71 and sits in a three-way tie for ninth place at 211 with Greg Norman and John Cook.

Berganio, 221 after 54 holes, said he will head home tonight to Sylmar, where he will relax for two weeks before rejoining the Nike tour.