West Liberty senior leads Pittsburgh Open

For most of the first round of the Pittsburgh Open on Monday, Darin Kowalski’s name appeared on top of the leaderboard.

But late in the afternoon, amateur Alex Easthom of Ravenswood, W.Va., emerged as the leader in the Tri-State PGA event at South Hills Country Club.

That’s because the scoring app on his phone malfunctioned, and Easthom’s score hadn’t registered.

The West Liberty State senior rebounded from a three-putt bogey on No. 11 with a big par on the tough par-3 No. 12 and then birdied No. 13, 14 and 16 to finish with a 6-under par 65.

He takes a three-shot lead over Kowalski, who shot a 3-under 68. The South Hills Country Club member rebounded from a double-bogey six on No. 16 with birdies on his final two holes.

Mt. Lebanon native Kevin Shields is third at 2-under, while Oakmont pro Devin Gee and Aspinwall’s Michael Marsico are tied for fourth at 1-under.

There are four players tied at even par, including Falling Rock’s winner Daniel Rodgers and 2019 winner Rob McClellan. There are six players tied for 10th at 1-over.

Easthom, 20, just plodded along by making four birdies on the front nine (Nos. 1, 5, 6 and 9).

“My live scoring wouldn’t work, so nobody knew what I was shooting,” Easthom said. “I played really well all around. I drove the ball well. I hit good wedges, good irons and made some putts. I probably made three or four 15 to 20 footers. I got up and down when I needed to.”

After his double bogey, Easthom refocused.

“I got over the three-putt by focusing on the next hole,” Easthom said. “I didn’t want the round to get away from me.”

Kowalski, who owns the course record of 62 at South Hills, said course knowledge helped.

“I felt like I played better than my score,” he said. “After the double bogey, I just had to play aggressive on the final two holes. Fortunately, I got birdies and got the momentum going into Tuesday.”

Kowalski said the greens make the course tough and it’s important to stay below the hole.

Gee was atop the leaderboard for a time at 4-under through 11 holes but bogeyed No. 13, 16 and 18.

“I feel better (today) that I did last week at Falling Rock,” Gee said. “I hit it as well as I could and putted well. I really felt at one point that I could easily have been 7-under. But I had three bad breaks and made bogeys.”

Gee said Kowalski is a great player and feels the pressure could be on him playing on his home course.

As for Easthom, he said he’ll try to play a round Tuesday similar to the one he played Monday.

Tri-State PGA

Pittsburgh Open

Monday’s results

(Top 60 and ties advance)

South Hills Country Club, par 71

1. a-Alex Easthom 65

2. a-Darin Kowalski 68

3. Kevin Shields 69

T4. Devin Gee 70

T4. a-Michael Marsico 70

T6. Daniel Rodgers 71

T6. Joe Boros 71

T6. Rob McClellan 71

T6. Jason Robinson 71

T10. Gene Walter 72

T10. Jack Ramsett 72

T10. a-Jimmy Ellis 72

T10. Ty Roush 72

T10. Jim Cichra 72

T10. Chris McKnight 72

T16. a-John F. Aber 73

T16. a-Justin Griffith 73

T16. a-Trent Karlik 73

T16. a-Rob Cimarolli 73

T16. Gordon Vietmeier 73

T16. a-Trent Johnson 73

T16. Roy Vucinich 73

T16. a-Tanner Grzegorczyk 73

(a) denotes amateur