Balin takes lead in Met Open

That hard wind, gray sky, morning rain and those long par 4s - all of those conditions turned the first round of the Met Open at Bethpage Black into what one participant called a cross between the British Open and U.S. Open. Danny Balin considered himself lucky to have just played the PGA.

Balin had a major-caliber round in him Tuesday in rough conditions, shooting an opening 2-under-par 69, a week and a half after returning from the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. "I didn't play as well as I wanted to there, but coming out here compared to what we were playing in, it's a little bit easier," Balin said. "You can miss it a little bit and not get into too much trouble, whereas out there, if you missed it a little bit, the rough was really deep and very penalizing.

"After going out there and playing with the big boys, you come back and just feel you can win anything you play in," said the assistant pro at Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, Conn. He knows that winning here will take two more days of solid play, and some luck. But having felt the heat of a major didn't hurt.

Balin was one of only two golfers to break par Tuesday, one shot ahead of the Concord's John Stoltz, the golfer who commented on the British/U.S. Open connection.

Despite having missed the cut in the PGA, Balin stayed in Wisconsin through the weekend to watch his friend Rob Labritz, who was low club pro there (and shot 74 on the Black Tuesday). The two played a practice round at Whistling Straits with former British Open champion Ben Curtis and PGA Tour pro Steve Marino (a buddy of Labritz from the Canadian Tour).

During the PGA, Balin played with tour pros Robert Karlsson and Sean O'Hair. "Robert Karlsson was very encouraging about my game, about what I was doing," Balin said. "He said, 'Keep it going, someday maybe you'll be out on tour.' "

Balin did have the patience Tuesday necessary to deal with British Isles-caliber gusts on a U.S. Open course. "The wind messes with your mind. You know the scores are going to be high and you've just got to not make big mistakes," he said.

The Sunday before last, he was at the hotel in time to see Dustin Johnson's huge mistake - thinking a bunker was merely a bare patch and mistakenly grounding his club. "Everybody is talking about that 'controversial call,' but it was the rules of golf," Balin said. "There were signs throughout the locker room and they told us about bunkers on the first tee. He was just in the moment, but he'll be back."

Notes & quotes: Tuesday was the pro debut for Reed Howard of Greenwich Country Club. His 5-over-par 76 was witnessed by his father, actor/director Ron Howard. The latter, asked if he was more proud or nervous, smiled and said, "A little of both."