REDMOND — Russell Grove is just getting started.

Beginning with two practice rounds last weekend, the professional golfer from Idaho is in the midst of a 12-day tour of tournaments in Central Oregon, culminating with next week’s PGA Professional Championship, which features more than 300 of the country’s top club professionals. It will be Grove’s debut at that tournament, from which the top 20 finishers will qualify for the PGA Championship — the final major championship of the year on the PGA Tour. So he needed something to help settle the nerves.

Cut to Thursday afternoon, after Grove shot a three-day 13-under-par 203 and celebrated a six-shot victory at the Oregon Open Invitational at Juniper Golf Course. That was just the springboard Grove needed as he heads into the PGA Professional, which tees off Sunday in Sunriver.

“It was definitely a good prep to get some nerves going and pressure down the stretch,” Grove said.

On a 65-degree day that was cooled off by strong winds, Grove entered the final round with a four-stroke lead over Derek Berg, the 2010 Oregon Open champion from Sammamish, Washington. Grove, the men’s and women’s golf coach at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, birdied the second hole to extend his advantage to five shots and watched his lead grow to six when Berg double-bogeyed at the par-4 fifth.

“It was a grind, for sure,” said Grove, noting the gusting winds.

“I definitely was hitting it well off the tee, which can get you in trouble if you’re not. It made it a lot easier. I know there are certain spots you have to be in and certain spots you can’t be in. Today, I just played conservative. I started getting pressure from Derek there at the turn, and then after (holes) 10 and 11, I started getting more of a cushion so I played a little more conservative. It was a test of golf today, for sure.”

Berg surged back into contention with three birdies in four holes to make the turn at 10 under overall — just three strokes back of Grove, who went 1 under through the first nine.

“Minus that double (bogey) on five, you take that away and I would have put a lot of heat on (Grove) making the turn,” Berg said. “It’s the old cliche: You just do your best, one shot at a time, and see where the chips fall where they can. He played great all week, especially today, which was probably the windiest day.”

Grove quickly began spacing himself from the rest of the field, sinking a birdie on 10 and a par on 11. Berg, meanwhile, went bogey-double to allow Grove to build an insurmountable seven-stroke advantage. The Idahoan finished with a 1-under third round and a six-shot victory. Berg was 1 over during the final round and finished at 7-under 209 overall.

“It’s definitely a weight off my chest getting this,” Grove said of heading into next week’s PGA Professional. “It’s always good to be playing well going into a tournament.”

Jared Lambert, a 2011 Redmond High graduate and a professional from Eagle Crest, birdied two of his first three holes Thursday to get to 2 under overall. Lambert, though, bogeyed the seventh and the 10th and went bogey-double at holes 15 and 16. Still, he salvaged even par with a birdie on 18 to finish with a three-day even-par 216 to tie for seventh overall.

“I’m really happy with how I played today, just to keep it together,” said Lambert, who turned pro in 2016. “I feel good. I left a lot out there the first couple of days. … Today, I think I put it all together like I didn’t do the first two days. It’s still something you can build on because there’s other tournaments to come. Even though I didn’t win, there’s still tournaments to get ready for, and you’ve got to learn from your mistakes and know what positives and negatives you’re going to take away.”

An amateur from Bend’s Tetherow Golf Club, Justin Kadin, finished with a 75 on Thursday for a three-day 218 to tie for second among amateurs and in a tie for 11th overall. Reid Hatley, of Hayden Lake Country Club in Idaho, topped the amateur field with a 3-under 213 overall.

Now the Oregon Open champ, Grove heads to Sunriver with the momentum he sought. He had competed in the Oregon Open at Juniper in 2013, and he used that experience (and his old yardage book) to help prepare for this week’s tournament. Now, less than a week after two practice rounds in Sunriver, Grove looks to tap into the same magic to qualify for the PGA Championship.

“I’m hitting it well, and winning breeds confidence,” Grove said. “We’ll see what happens.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307, 
glucas@bendbulletin.com