Rohanna opens with even-par round
Robert Rohanna’s return to the PGA Tour Latinoamerica was break even after shooting an even-par 71 Thursday in the first round of the Flor de Cana Open.
Nick Palladino and David Denlinger are tied atop the leaderboard at 7-under 64. The low 55 scores and ties advance to Saturday’s third round.
The Waynesburg Central graduate missed the first half of the tour while he was recuperating from a medical procedure on his hand. Rohanna played several events in Florida and Pennsylvania through the summer, including the West Penn Open, Fuhrer Invitational and Pennsylvania Open.
“Yeah, I enjoy hanging out with everyone and what not, getting back into the groove of things,” Rohanna said via Facebook Messenger about his return to the tour. “I would have liked to score a tad better, but happy with how I hit it. Hopefully, it can continue tomorrow and I can shoot a good round.
“I hit the ball the best I have in any event I’ve played this year.”
Rohanna opened on the back nine with two bogeys and a birdie to go out in 1-over 36.
He made the turn with a birdie to get to even-par for the round, but gave it right back with a bogey-5 on the next hole.
“We had a storm brewing and it came on our back nine,” explained Rohanna. “It rained for like 10 minutes, just long enough for me to 3-putt (No. 2).”
Rohanna had two more birdies and another birdie on his back nine to come back in 1-under 35.
“I had inside 20 feet on like every hole, and made one,” said Rohanna. “But, I still feel like I rolled the ball well.
“The afternoon was a bunch harder today. The wind blew like crazy. I’m happy with how I hit the ball, just didn’t score well. The greens are just tough to get it going, they are slow and bumpy. I only birdied the par-5s, really, and I made one 10-footer.”
The weather in Nicaragua was oppressively hot and steamy in the practice rounds, but wasn’t so bad in the first round.
“Actually, the wind blew so hard today that it wasn’t that bad,” said Rohanna.
Rohanna tees off at 7:08 a.m. off No. 1 in the second round.