Berganio Opens Up With 69 and Leads Briefly

For at least a few hours Thursday, David Berganio was in a place many golfers only dream about:

His name was atop the leader board at the U.S. Open.

Berganio, a graduate of Alemany High, shot a one-under-par 69 and briefly led in the first round at the Oakland Hills Country Club course in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

The 27-year-old Sylmar resident, who won the 1991 U.S. Public Course championship and plays on the Nike tour, played in the first group of the day. He started slowly over the soggy course but rallied on the back nine.

Berganio finished in an eight-way tie for fourth place, two shots behind co-leaders Payne Stewart and Woody Austin.

“It was wet out there but it didn’t bother me,” Berganio said. “I’ve been playing for two weeks in the rain.”

Berganio said driving was the biggest challenge because the thick, wet rough made it impossible to go for the green.

“The rough is definitely penalizing,” he said. “So there is a lot of pressure to hit the fairway off the tee. I was nervous on every drive.”

Berganio bogeyed the first hole and finished at two-over-par 37 on the front nine. He rebounded with three birdies on the back nine, two on 10-foot putts, and saved par at the 465-yard, par-four 18th when he chipped out of deep grass to within two feet of the hole.

“That was a lucky shot,” Berganio said. “You don’t do that too often out of rough like that.”

Berganio, an All-American at Arizona and the Pacific-10 Conference most valuable player in 1993, is in his first season on the Nike tour. He ranks 10th with $52,805 and would qualify for a PGA card if he finishes the season in the top 10.

His only victory came in March at the Monterrey Open in Mexico.