Berganio Gets to Do Some Homework

David Berganio Jr. has returned home for this weekend’s Nissan Open amid a wave of contrasting reactions encompassed in a 100-yard walk down a steep hill from the clubhouse to the driving range at Riviera Country Club.

There is the fanfare of loyal fans from his hometown of Sylmar, proud of their native son who finished fourth on the Nike Tour money list last year and achieved his longtime dream of a full-time exemption on the PGA Tour.

There is the other extreme--the bastion of fans who know Berganio only as the guy who just finished a practice round with Tiger Woods.

As Berganio begins the walk toward the driving range, a group of fans waiting for Woods approaches him.

He signs a golf ball.

“Hey, I just got that Dave Bergeeo guy’s autograph,” the fan says to his buddy as he walks away.

He signs a hat.

“Who was that?” the man’s friend asks.

“That Dave Barjo guy who played with Tiger,” is the response.

This does not bother Berganio (pronounced burr-GHAN-ee-o), a Sylmar resident and 1988 graduate of Alemany High. He plans to make himself known soon.

“I’m going to get famous because of the way I play golf, not because of who I play practice rounds with,” Berganio said.

Berganio is home, but it is a place he says he has spent far too much time lately.

After making the cut in his first event--the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in Palm Springs--and making $4,204 for a 45th-place finish, Berganio has reluctantly been home in Sylmar.

A back injury caused him to miss the cut at the Phoenix Open, skip the ATT National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, miss the cut at the Buick Invitational in San Diego and withdraw from the Hawaiian Open after flying all the way there only to sleep wrong on the plane and re-injure his back.

Finally feeling better, he entered last week’s Tucson Chrysler Classic and shot rounds of 75-77 to miss the cut again.

“I played awful,” he said. “If it’s not one thing it’s another right now. I never had back problems before and now I finally get on Tour and my back starts hurting.”

Further along the walk toward the driving range a couple of Sylmar residents approach Berganio and ask for a picture. They know his name, for while he is not yet a household name among mainstream golf fans, the tough neighborhoods of the Sylmar area have embraced him as a hero.

“He’s brought golf to a community that doesn’t really know golf,” said Aurelio Monreal, a longtime friend of Berganio who followed him during his practice round. “Before it was considered nuts to be out there playing golf. In that type of area you’re either playing football or playing baseball or trying to do something tough.”

Last week, Berganio donated a putter and a driver to the Sylmar High Alumni scholarship tournament and increased the funds raised by $1,500 over last year.

“He is very loyal to his community,” Monreal said. “He did it all out of charity--didn’t want any recognition. He said to keep it low profile and I’m going, ‘Come on Dave, we have to thank you.’ ”

Those who know Berganio say he hasn’t changed much over his progression from the amateur ranks through the Asian Tour, the Nike Tour and onto the PGA Tour. But Berganio, once considered to have such an explosive on-course temper and brash personality that USGA officials did not select him for the Walker Cup team, says he has changed a great deal.

“I just had to learn the hard way,” he said. “You can only do so many things wrong before you realize that you aren’t 17 or 18 anymore.

“I used to bang balls, break clubs. Now I’m 28 years old, you know. I had to grow up sometime. It’s kind of been my style to go against the grain and I’m not going to change the way I think, but maybe my actions shouldn’t be so drastic.”

Down the hill, three Latinos approximately Berganio’s age ask for autographs. He obliges and gives a high five to one of the guys.

“It’s good to see one of us out here getting some of this money,” the fan says.

Berganio, proud of overcoming the crime, drugs and prison time that befell many of his friends, represents a niche of society that doesn’t get a lot of representation in a world filled with players who came from country club families.

“If they think of me as a role model, that’s fine if that’s the way they want to take it,” he said. “I don’t go to that extreme in my mind, I just try to be the best person I am and hopefully that’s good enough to be seen as a role model. Doing what I’m doing from where I came from, I represent a lot of people.”

Finally, Berganio reaches the driving range. He summons his caddie and picks out a spot from which to practice.

From over the fence a couple of friends yell out to him asking for a ride home. They had taken the bus in to see him. Berganio politely declines then gives instructions on where to catch the bus home.

“It’s always nice to come home,” Berganio says.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DAVID BERGANIO JR. PROFILE

* Born: January 14, 1969.

* Resides: Sylmar.

* Schools: Alemay High, Mission College, University of Arizona.

* Career Highlights: 1983--Introduced to golf as a 14-year-old by Father George Miller, then the Pastor at Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Pacoima.

1990: Named All-Pac 10.

1992: Plays in The Master’s, but missed the cut.

1996: Tied for 16th at U.S. Open. Won Nike Tour Monterrey Open. Finished second in three of six Nike Tournaments at the end of season, finishing fourth on money list with $146,047. Received PGA Tour exemption.