5 day forecast
Boros wins Tri-State PGA Championship
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Not many golfers consider the number 5 to be a good sign. Either it denotes a bogey (on a par 4) or a double bogey (on a par 3), or perhaps it marks a missed chance at birdie on a par 5.
But since it is his son's lucky number, therefore his usual caddie lucky number, Joe Boros doesn't mind seeing 5s before a round. He spotted it repeatedly before shooting a 1-under 71 to win the Tri-State PGA Championship Tuesday at Montour Heights Country Club, finishing the 36-hole tournament at 2 under.
"My golf balls, I pulled out 5s [Tuesday]. My cart was No. 55," said Boros, a pro at Treesdale Golf and Country Club. "I thought maybe something good might happen, and, you know, it did."
Two rain delays hardly fazed Boros. A 45-minute delay in the morning proved to be a short recess compared to the nearly two-hour halt early in the afternoon by thunderstorms. Boros had just finished the ninth hole when the sirens sounded around 12:45, and walked to the clubhouse, sitting adjacent to No. 10 tee.
"It couldn't have been more perfect," Boros said. "We were right here."
Others were not so lucky. The rain washed away second-place finisher Chuck Scally's momentum.
"I was on a hot streak there, I had eagled No. 9, I was 4 under," said Scally, of Scally's Golf Center. "I went to 10, I hit a good shot there to about 6 feet, and then the horn blew. I came back out and just two-putted. My momentum was gone."
Scally bogeyed three holes on the back nine to finish the round and the tournament at 1 under, one shot behind Boros.
"I was like, 'Aw, man, I want to putt this so bad," Scally said of the weather horn's interruption.
The rain had more effect on the course than simply disrupting Scally's rhythm. Officials elongated the delay by nearly an hour to give standing puddles a chance to dissipate. The saturated course absorbed the water and most shots.
"The course played really long for an old guy like me," Boros said. "When you don't get any roll out there, it plays long. But it played long for everybody."
The top six finishers qualified for the 2013 PGA Professional National Championship, raising the Tri-State PGA's list of qualifiers to eight, with an additional entry likely. Bob Ford (70), Scott Davis (72) and Kevin Shields (73) joined Scally in a tie for second. Shields holds an exemption to the 2013 National Championship and does not count toward the six qualifiers. John Aber (71) and Tony Traci (75) tied for sixth at even par, rounding out the Tri-State qualifiers.
This year, due to a rotating basis, the Tri-State PGA also holds the rights of the first alternate, and Zachary Street earned that position by winning a one-hole playoff over Jonathan Clark and Jason Robinson. Barry Evans, another Tri-State PGA member, holds a lifetime exemption to the National Championship.
First Published July 25, 2012 12:00 am
