South Hadley’s Werenski not done yet
Near-win on PGA Tour gives him new life for FedEx playoffs
One month ago, it looked nearly certain that if South Hadley native Richy Werenski was to keep his PGA Tour card for next year, it was going to be by earning it through a solid showing in the Web.com Tour playoffs.
Things weren’t going so great in his first year on tour. After missing the cut at the Greenbrier Classic, it stretched his run of not playing on Sunday to 11 starts going back to February. In that span, he fell from 79th place in the FedEx Cup standings to 160th.
Werenski’s fortunes have started to turn around though, beginning with a tie for 25th at the John Deere Classic in Illinois and a T-18 the following week at the Barbasol Championship in Alabama.
“I didn’t feel like I was far off, but I was just missing the cut by 1 or 2, and out here it’s just — this is my first year out here, so it’s tough to kind of get used to it,” Werenski said. “There’s things you’ve got to learn. But I’m starting to feel more comfortable, and I think that’s helping, just having a little bit more confidence.”
Last weekend, while most golf fans were focused on the World Golf Championships event in Ohio, the players outside the top tier were in Reno, Nev., for the Barracuda Championship, which uses a modified Stableford scoring system that awards points for eagles (five) and birdies (two) and takes points away for bogeys (one) and doubles (three).
The event included the 25-yearold Werenski, who was making his 25th career start. It was a big one. Werenski made it to a three-man playoff before losing on the second hole to Chris Stroud, who won for the first time in his 290th start.
“I’ll learn from this experience and take it to the next time I’m here,” he said Sunday night. “The week was really good, solid (but) felt like I really could have played a lot better. I think everybody always says that, but I know I definitely don’t have my best stuff, but my game is trending in the right direction.”
Werenski, who grew up playing at The Orchards, teamed up with his younger brother Mickey to win the 2013 Mass. Four-Ball and was a standout at Georgia Tech. He had the 36-hole lead at the Barracuda but needed to rally late on Sunday with three birdies and a chip-in eagle at No. 15 in the last five holes. He also saved a point by chipping in for par at the par-3 16th. A birdie at the last got him to 44 points, matching Stroud and Greg Owen.
Owen was eliminated on the first playoff hole (18th) while Stroud and Werenski advanced with birdies. Playing the 18th hole once again, Werenski’s second shot hit off a mound just to the left of the green and bounced through. He then left his chip about 20 feet above the hole and was unable to get the birdie putt to fall. Stroud tapped in for a tournament-winning 4.
“I thought I hit a pretty good second shot in here and had a little adrenaline going, hit it a little further, took a bad kick, couldn’t really tell where it landed,” Werenski said of his second shot. “And I didn’t think it was going over the green. And then I hit a bad chip on top of it.
“So obviously I’m pretty bummed. Not a good feeling. Could have locked up my card. Probably now I’ve got to do some more work, but whatever. I’m not worried.”
A victory would have earned him $600,000, the security of being exempt through the 2018-19 season, and a spot in this week’s PGA Championship, the Tournament of Champions in January and The Players Championship next May.
Instead, Werenski has this week off and heads into the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., for the last event before the FedEx Cup playoffs start. He currently has a 16-point cushion on the No. 126 player on the list, Cameron Tringale, for retaining a card for next year and a spot in the first leg of the playoffs.