ST. LOUIS — It happened so fast, Matt Dobyns’ mind was racing.
Three holes into Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club, the Fresh Meadow club pro from Long Island had birdied every one of them and, at 3-under par, was two shots out of the lead held at the time by Rickie Fowler.
Suddenly, Dobyns’ name was on leaderboards all over the grounds and the TV broadcast was showing him play.
“You start dreaming,’’ Dobyns said. “I thought I was going to birdie them all at that point. You see your name up there two shots off the lead and you never know. I’m feeling fine, like, ‘What the hell? I can shoot 5-under here.’ ’’
Alas, the dream ended rather abruptly for Dobyns, who took a triple bogey on the par-4 fifth hole, where he broke the head off of his 4-iron when he hit a root. By the time his day was done, Dobyns shot a 6-over 76, marred by another triple bogey on No. 12 and double on 18 to close the round.
“It’s sad, because I’ve been at the other end of the spectrum, gotten off to bad starts in this thing so many times and grinded like crazy to get to a respectable score,’’ he said. “This time I get off to a great start and spit the bit all the way home.’’
Conversely to Dobyns’ day was that of Danny Balin, the Westchester Country Club teaching pro, who bogeyed his first two holes but rallied to shoot a respectable 2-over 72 to head into Friday with a real chance to make the cut for the first time in his five PGA Championship appearances.
“It was nerves,’’ Balin said. “My caddie said that I was rushing and I said, ‘Frank, I can’t feel anything. I’m shaking. I’m nervous.’ It’s a nerve-wracking experience when you don’t do this week in and week out and [you’re out] there with thousands of people around. We don’t ever play in front of crowds.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself because I’ve got my family and friends here and I want to play for them and myself.’’
One thing Balin insisted he would not do is put pressure on himself Friday.
“I can’t have too high expectations,’’ he said. “I don’t want to think about making the cut. I have to tune out the circus that’s going on around us and play my game.’’
His game was good enough to better the two experienced PGA Tour pros in his group — Russell Henley, who shot 74 and Chesson Hadley, who shot 75.
“I’ve played a lot of Tour pros before and I’ve beaten them and they’ve beaten me — more than I beat them,’’ Balin said. “Their résumés are a lot better than mine, but my game is just as good as these guys. I just have to make a few more putts here and there.
“I thought I played real well, given the situation — a major championship with 98 of the top 100 players in the world on a long golf course for a guy that doesn’t hit it that far off the tee. I’m very happy. I think it’s the best round I’ve had in the five majors that I’ve played. I can’t be upset shooting 2-over par in a major championship.’’
