Droemer wins PGA Professional Championship and leads 20 club pros into the PGA Championship

BANDON, Ore. (AP) — Jesse Droemer survived a late bogey by finishing with three pars at windy Bandon Dunes to close with a 2-under 70 and win the PGA Professional Championship by one shot Wednesday, one of 20 club pros who earned a spot in the PGA Championship. Droemer, a teaching pro at Riverbend Country Club in the Houston area, was among six pros who qualified for the PGA Championship for the second year in a row. The PGA Championship is May 14-17 at Aronimink outside Philadelphia. Ben Kern, the general manager at Hickory Hills Golf Club in central Ohio, made a pair of birdies on the back nine and tied for the lead when Droemer in the group ahead took bogey on the par-3 15th. Kern, however, went long of the 17th and failed to get up-and-down to fall one behind. He chose to lay up on the par-5 closing hole and missed a 12-foot birdie putt. Droemer finished at 4-under 283 to win the Walter Hagen Cup. “I always say it's such a blessing to test your game against the best in the world,” Droemer said. “To represent thousands of PGA professionals on that stage is a dream come true.” The best finish belonged to Chris Gabriele, the head pro at Old Westbury Golf and Country Club in New York. He was at 3-over par, one shot out of what appeared to be a playoff for the final PGA spots, when he hit his approach to 3 feet for eagle on the final hole to secure a top-20 finish. There was no playoff because of the back-nine collapse by Charlie Beljan, the former PGA Tour player who won at Disney in 2012 for his lone title. Beljan shot 40 on the back nine and closed with a 78, missing out by one shot. Droemer, Michael Kartrude, Tyler Collet, Michael Block, Ryan Lenahan and Timothy Wiseman are returning to the PGA Championship for the second straight year. Block is playing for the fifth straight time, one of those years when he qualified by finishing in the top 15 at Oak Hill in 2023. Lenahan said he watched a video of his son saying last year after the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, “I want to come back.” He was on the bubble when he came to the 18th, part of the large group at 2 over that seemed destined for a playoff, when he made a 20-foot birdie putt to lock up his spot at Aronimink. “I knew exactly where I stood. It was pretty stressful," said Lenahan, the director of instruction at Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Michigan. ”I just wanted to give myself a chance. It was magical. I don't know how else to say it." \\\_ AP golf: