Ernst, five others take first step to U.S. Open

Playoff golf is getting to be old hat for Derek Ernst.

On May 5, the former UNLV player won for the first time on the PGA Tour, capturing the Wells Fargo Championship in a playoff.

On Monday at TPC Summerlin, Ernst kept his U.S. Open dream alive by winning one of two spots in a three-man playoff on the second extra hole to be part of a six-man contingent advancing from the Las Vegas qualifying round.

“I thought I was done,” Ernst said after failing to build on his 1-under 70 in regulation. “But I know this course like the back of my hand, so I felt like I still had a chance.”

Also advancing were Roger Tambellini, Craig Barlow, Carl Jonson, Anthony Aguilar and Nick Killpack. Mike Ruiz, another former Rebel who was the odd man out in the playoff with Ernst and Killpack, was the first alternate.

The six will compete in one of 11 36-hole Sectional tournaments to be played June 3. The winners, and in some cases, runners-up and third- and fourth-place finishers, will advance to Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia, where the U.S. Open will be played June 13 to 16.

“I thought you’d have to shoot a low score out here to qualify, but with the course playing the way it was, that wasn’t going to happen,” said Henderson’s Barlow, who shot 2-under 69. “The greens were really fast and the pins were tucked in the corners, so the course was playing a lot tougher.”

On a day when temperatures hovered around 100 degrees and the wind intensified in the afternoon — adding to a virtual zero-tolerance policy on slow play — it was a tough test for the 90-man field.

Tambellini, a PGA Tour veteran from Scottsdale, Ariz., recovered from bogeys on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 to shoot the day’s best round, a 4-under 67. He finished with eight birdies and four bogeys on a course he knows well, having played in three PGA Tour Shriners Opens, most recently in 2011, when he missed the cut.

“I kept air-mailing the greens,” Tambellini said of Monday’s wild round.

He is bidding for his second U.S. Open berth — he played in 2004 at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y.

“It was the thrill of a lifetime. I’d love to get another crack at it,” he said.

Aguilar, a caddy at Cascata Golf Club, had a 2-under 69 and also is hoping for a second crack at the Open, having qualified for the 1997 event at Congressional outside Washington, D.C.

“The course was nice today and I made enough putts, though I left a few out there as well,” said Aguilar, who is the inventor of a device called “Flexputter,” which helps players with their timing and speed on the greens. “I don’t play as much as I used to, so I’d love to get a chance to get in again.”

Several UNLV golfers were in the field in advance of the NCAA Regional, which begins Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. Jonson, a sophomore, took full advantage of playing early, carding a 2-under 69.

“It’s a great warmup for this week,” said Jonson, who will fly to Ohio today. “I putted real solid and the ball was really flying. It (was) great to qualify for the Sectional, but I’m really looking forward to the NCAAs this week.”

Junior teammate Nicholas Maruri was 2-under before withdrawing with three holes to play to catch a flight to Columbus. Sophomore Kurt Kitayama shot par 71, finishing one shot out of the playoff.

“I’m starting to figure things out,” Kitayama said. “A lot of it is just slowing down and being more patient.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.