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Brian Bergstol leads the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship by two shots

Making his debut on the course, Bergstol found success on the first day.

Brian Bergstol hits his shot from the third tee during the final round of the 45th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship held at the PGA Golf Club on November 14, 2021, in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Brian Bergstol hits his shot from the third tee during the final round of the 45th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship held at the PGA Golf Club on November 14, 2021, in Port St. Lucie, Florida.Read moreHailey Garrett/PGA of America / PGA
    by Joe Juliano, For The Inquirer
    Updated 
    Published 

Playing in his first Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, Brian Bergstol of Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort used a red-hot run in the middle of his round Monday to card a 5-under-par 66 and take a 2-shot lead after the first 18 holes of the event being competed at Dupont and Concord Country Clubs.

Bergstol, who started on the back nine at Concord, ran off six birdies in a 10-hole stretch beginning at the par-3 15th and ending at the par-5 sixth where he missed a 6-foot eagle putt but tapped in for birdie. For the day, he hit 10 fairways and 16 greens.

“I tried to be as patient as I could out there,” he said. “It’s not really my favorite setup but I executed pretty well, especially off the tee. The greens were the only place where I really feel like I could have been better. I was reading way too much break. But it was a solid start, pretty stress-free.”

Bergstol, 37, secured full membership in the PGA of America earlier this year, making him eligible for the section championship.

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Zac Oakley of Bidermann Golf Club ran off three straight birdies at Concord near the end of his round for a 68 and second place on the opening day of the three-day, 54-hole championship. A six-way tie for third place at 69 included former champions Billy Stewart of Union League Liberty Hill and Terry Hatch of Royal Oaks along with Rolling Green’s Braden Shattuck, the section’s current points leader.

Stewart played at Concord, and Hatch and Shattuck were at Dupont.

Also starting on the back nine, Oakley had one birdie to show for his first 14 holes but a 300-yard 3-wood shot on the par-5 sixth, where he drove behind a tree and had to chip out, set up a 7-foot birdie putt. He then drained putts of 20 feet at No. 7 and 5 feet at No. 8 for birdies.

“I think I might have missed one green, real consistent ball-striking,” said Oakley, who is second on the section’s points list. “I putted all right, left a few out there, but pretty happy the way I hit it. I had some nice closing birdies there coming down to the end.”