Ohio’s Michael Balcar Wins Event No. 5 in PGA Tournament Series

After 14 holes of playing conservative golf Tuesday, Michael Balcar of Toledo, Ohio, knew it was time to hit the gas pedal.

Problem was, his drive on the 15th hole of the Dye Course landed on an upslope, in an old divot and he couldn’t even see the pin 180 yards away because a bunker was between him and the green.

No problem: He hit his approach to 15 feet and made the birdie putt to propel him to a two-shot victory over Dylan Newman in Event No. 5 of the PGA Tournament Series at PGA Golf Club.

“I don’t know how I hit that shot so good,” said Balcar, a PGA Assistant Professional at Brandywine Country Club. “I knew with the upslope, it was going to go higher and shorter, so I hit a 4-iron and gripped it down to the metal. And then I poured in the putt.”

It didn’t matter that Newman made his birdie putt on top of Balcar’s. Balcar added a birdie at the 17th for a 71 to finish at 9-under 135 and earn the $5,000 first prize.

Balcar led Newman by three after an opening 64, and extended his advantage to four shots Tuesday with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes. A double bogey on the ninth hole, however, cut his margin in half. Both Balcar and Newman played the back nine in 1-under 35.     

“You don’t want to play protective golf when you’re leading,” Balcar said. “You want to try and keep the aggressive mindset. But I did play a little more conservative today than usual.”

Newman was trying to win his fourth PGA Tournament Series event in his last eight starts, but was happy after he sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish alone in second place.

“Almost,” Newman said. “I just didn’t have it all (working) today. I missed a couple of short putts and had another three-putt. That was the difference.

“Michael was tough. He played hard. He made a couple of important par putts.”

Newman ($15,897) has virtually clinched his third money title in the last six years – he leads Jeff Sorenson ($11,302) entering this week’s final Series event. Newman also won in 2019 and 2020 and was runner-up to Domenico Geminiani ($10,428) of Italy last year.

Geminiani shot the day’s best round, a 5-under 67, to finish alone in third place at 6-under 138. Jim Troy (69) of Strongsville, Ohio, tied for fourth place with Alex Beach (72) of Stamford, Conn., and Jordan Gibbs (73) of Golden, Colo.

The PGA Tournament Series concludes Friday with Event No. 6 on the Wanamaker Course. The PGA Tournament Series is Presented by GolfPass.