Richard Raymond Werenski (born December 22, 1991) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life

Werenski was born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, but grew up in

South Hadley South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts. South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke College, South ...

and played golf at The Orchards Golf Club. He played college golf at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. He won the 2012

Porter Cup The Porter Cup is a 72-hole, medal-play elite amateur golf tournament held annually at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York. It was first played in 1959 and over the years has hosted some of the biggest names in golf. Past champion ...

Professional career

Werenski turned professional after graduating from Georgia Tech in 2014. He won his first two professional events, the Cutter Creek Classic, on the

NGA Pro Golf Tour The NGA Pro Golf Tour was a developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour consisted of around 25 professional golf tournaments, making it the third largest series in the United States after the elite PGA Tour and its developmenta ...

, and the

Vermont Open The Vermont Open is the Vermont state open golf tournament, open to both amateur sports, amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Vermont Chapter of the New England section of the PGA of America. History With the help of Burlingt ...

; he added another NGA Pro Golf Tour win in July 2014. In early 2015, Werenski won the

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ba ...

's reality show '' Big Break The Palm Beaches, FL''. As the winner of The Big Break, he earned entry into the

Barbasol Championship The ISCO Championship is a professional golf tournament in Kentucky on the PGA Tour; it debuted in 2015 as the Barbasol Championship, an alternate event to the Genesis Scottish Open in July. The first three editions of the tournament were played ...

. He made the cut, finishing T72 in his first PGA Tour event. Werenski earned his 2015 Web.com Tour card through

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. He won for the first - and only - time on the Web.com Tour at the 2016

BMW Charity Pro-Am The BMW Charity Pro-Am is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It is currently played at Thornblade Club (host course) in Greer, South Carolina and The Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, South Carolina. From 1992 to 2000, the event was p ...

. He finished the 2016 regular season second on the money list, which automatically earned him his PGA Tour card for 2017 as a Web.com graduate. On the PGA Tour in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Werenski had a solid rookie year with three top-10s, including a playoff loss at the

Barracuda Championship A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned, saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwi ...

. He made the

2017 FedEx Cup Playoffs The 2017 FedEx Cup Playoffs, the series of four golf tournaments that determined the season champion on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, was played from August 24 to September 24. It included the following four events: *The Northern Trust – Glen Oaks C ...

and finished the season 106th in points to retain his card for 2018. In

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, he had another solid season, carding two top-10s, including another T-2 finish (this time at the

), and made the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

again. He finished 110th in points and retained his card for 2019. In October 2019, Werenski broke a wrist in a car accident. He returned to the PGA Tour in January 2020. At the

3M Open The 3M Open is a professional golf tournament in Minnesota on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, a suburb north of Minneapolis. Announced by the PGA Tour in June 2018, the tournament debuted in 2019 on July 4–7. Minnesota-based c ...

in July 2020, he led the field after the first round, was tied for the lead after the second and third rounds, and finished with a T-3. On August 2, 2020, Werenski won the PGA Tour's opposite field event, the

on Tahoe Mountain Club's Old Greenwood Course in

Truckee, California Truckee is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2 ...

. He holed a flop shot from the fairway on the par-4 16th for a five-point eagle and birdied the last for a one-point victory over Troy Merritt. Werenski won the event three years after losing to

Chris Stroud Christopher James Stroud (born February 3, 1982) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. He finally got his first professional win on August 6, 2017 at the Barracuda Championship after 290 starts on the PGA Tour. ...

on the second hole of a playoff. The win made Werenski one of the last entrants into the

2020 PGA Championship The 2020 PGA Championship was the 102nd edition of the PGA Championship, and the first of golf's three Men's major golf championships, major championships played in 2020 in golf, 2020. It was held August 6–9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisc ...

Amateur wins

*2012

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Web.com Tour wins (1)

NGA Pro Golf Tour wins (2)

*2014 Cutter Creek Classic, Seven Lakes NGA Classic

Other wins (1)

*2014

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.'' CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Results in The Players Championship

"T" indicates a tie for a place
CUT = missed the halfway cut
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Werenski, Richy American male golfers Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Massachusetts Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts Golfers from Jupiter, Florida 1991 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen