Balin wins Met PGA Championship

PURCHASE, N.Y. -- Tearing himself away from a celebration with U.S. teammates was harder than having made "SportsCenter" with a hole-in-one. That was the opinion of Danny Balin, who did both in Northern California last week.

His ace was the signature shot in the Americans' win over Great Britain and Ireland in the PGA Cup, which is the Ryder Cup for club pros. Balin begged out of the team dinner Sunday because he had a redeye flight to catch -- and a tee time soon after that in a big 54-hole tournament that began Monday at Old Oaks.

"I haven't had a lot of sleep the last couple of days, but it's all worth it," said the assistant pro at Burning Tree in Greenwich, Conn. "I just knew that this was the last major of the year."

Before he had a chance to change his clubs out of his Team USA golf bag, he was celebrating again Wednesday. This time Balin was holding a $15,000 check, having turned back a late challenge from Friar's Head assistant pro Nick Bova to win the Met PGA Championship.

It was "bittersweet," he said, leaving teammates after their 17 1/2-81/2 victory last weekend (the squad also included Huntington native Brad Lardon). But, Balin added, "They were all for it. They were checking up on me the last couple of days."

Jet lag had not trumped his momentum. "I played great all week last week. I didn't putt it as well as I could have, but I played great from tee to green, probably the best I've ever played," Balin said after shooting par 70 to finish at 2 under.

He had another highlight video moment yesterday: a game-changing eagle on the tough 440-yard eighth hole. Balin led by two for most of the back nine, until he bogeyed the par-3 16th right after Bova birdied.

But Bova's tee shot on 17 went into the right woods, requiring him to chop out to the fairway lefthanded. "Believe it or not, I actually practice that shot," Bova said. His own highlight could not prevent a double bogey or a tie for second, at even par, with Frank Bensel of Century CC.

"You can't boil a whole week down to one swing," Bova said. "I had a chance to win, and that's the most important thing."

Balin said, "He played great today. It was unfortunate where he had to hit from on 17. I feel a little bad for him, but I also kind of knew this was going to be my day."