CORAOPOLIS — With a chance to gain ground on the tournament leaders, Joe Boros settled for birdie after missing an eagle putt on No. 14 Tuesday.

The opportunity, however, came right back to him.

On the second day of the Tri-State PGA Professional Championship, Boros, the club professional at Treesdale Golf & Country Club, fired a 1-under par 71 — same as Monday — which was good enough to capture the event at Montour Heights Country Club.

The win allowed Boros to claim one of six qualifying spots for next year’s PGA Professional Championship, which will be played June 23-26 at Sunriver Resort in Oregon.

“It would have felt good to make the eagle and get closer,” Boros said about the 14th hole. “Those guys ahead were around 4-under for the day and that put me about 1-under.

“I figured they had a lot of room. They came backwards, so I kind of backed into it,” Boros added.

Boros outlasted PGA professional Scott Davis, Chuck Scally of Scally’s Golf Center, Bob Ford of Oakmont Country Club and Kevin Shields of Sewickley Heights Golf Club, who all carded a 143 to finish one stroke back.

Those five golfers all shot between 70 and 73 in the two rounds, but Boros was the most consistent of the low scorers.

“For the most part, I didn’t have a whole lot of birdies and not a whole lot of bogeys,” Boros said. “On the first day, I think I was 1-over on the front nine and 2-under on the final nine holes. I drove it well and didn’t get into trouble. When I missed from the green, I had a good spot.”

What made things a little more interesting Tuesday was the delays the golfers encountered.

“It poured,” Boros said. “The section does a great job. They got us off the course. The rain was coming down in buckets, but it drained pretty good.

“It worked out perfectly for me. We had just finished the ninth hole and drove up to the 10th by the clubhouse and they pulled us off.”

The delay lasted about two hours on top of a lengthy delay at the start of the day with another storm.

Boros also had to believe good fortune was upon him, even though his son, Jack, was not in attendance. The younger Boros was working with his grandfather Tuesday.

“Jack’s favorite number is five,” Boros said. “It’s his basketball jersey number. The number on the ball I pull out of my bag is a five. Then, I couldn’t find a cart and when I finally did, it was number 55. I thought, ‘Jack’s with me today.’”

Despite the title, as well as the qualifying spot at next year’s PGA Professional Championship, don’t be surprised if Boros doesn’t take part.

He hasn’t done so for a number of years.

“The last four or five years, it’s been on the same date as the Frank Fuhrer Invitational,” Boros said. “He’s a great friend of mine so I’ve stayed here for that.”

Notes: Denny Dolci of St. Jude Golf Club tied for 20th (150), while John Aubrey of Aubrey’s Dubbs Dred and Rob McClellan of Butler Country Club tied for 31st (153), Jody Barrett of Cranberry Highlands Golf Course tied for 50th (159) and Jimmy Brahm of Butler Country Club was 53rd (160). ... Shields had already earned an exemption, while John Aber and Tony Traci — both of Allegheny Country Club — nabbed the other qualifying spots.