Creature of Habit

Make no mistake, PGA Professional Steve Schneiter has figured out how to shoot 72 at Baltusrol Golf Club. He's done it three straight days at the 87th PGA Championship.

By Marino Parascenzo, Special to PGA.com

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- The key to happiness at Baltusrol wasn't so much in doing things absolutely right, but in doing them not so wrong, Steve Schneiter was saying Saturday, in so many words.

"There were some tight pins," said Schneiter, of Schneiter's Pebblebrook in Sandy, Utah, who led the four club professionals who made the cut in this 87th PGA Championship. "I just tried to be in the right spots and miss in the right spots. When I didn't miss in the right spots, I made bogey or double-bogey."

Only one double-bogey, actually, and that at the par-3 12th. Beyond that, he had three bogeys and three birdies in his third straight 2-over 72 for a 6-over 216 total after three rounds.

Ron Philo Jr., of Kittansett Club in Marion, Mass., shot 73 to stand on 7-over 217, and Darrell Kestner, the PGA head professional at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhassett, N.Y., went up by eight shots to a 78 for a 10-under total.

Mike Small, the University of Illinois head golf coach and current PGA Club Professional Champion, went from top to bottom of the club professionals. After a 2-under-par 68 in the second round, he skied to an 80 Saturday.

Schneiter revealed how to shoot 72 at tough Baltusrol.

"You have to hit fairways and you have to hit greens and you have to make a few putts," he said. It also helps to turn a blind eye once in a while. Asked about the tightening of pin positions, Schneiter said simply, "I never really thought about it."

Philo took a beating on the front nine, with a 5-over 39, led by a double-bogey at the third. "I wish I could have started better," said Philo, who rebounded with a three-birdie 34 on the back. "The difference is putting," he said, thinking of his eight one-putt greens. "I never had to make so many 5- and 6-footers for par."

Kestner had a laugh on himself, going from a 70 in the second round to a 78. "The third round is called moving day," Kestner said. "But you've got to move in the right direction."

Accuracy with his approaches was his main problem, he said. "I only missed two fairways today," he said, "but with the greens firm and the winds swirling, I hit only four greens in regulation."

Small, who had the
low round among the PGA Professionals in the second round, a 2-under 68, had one of those days.

"My good shots turned bad and my bad shots turned worse," he said, after that bruising 80. "It was one of those days when absolutely nothing went right -- nothing." He could point to a playing partner who should know -- Hal Sutton, former PGA Champion and Ryder Cup captain.

"Hal and I both shot 80," Small said, "and didn't make a birdie."

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