David Grooms
Richy Werenski's win at the BMW Pro-Am was also his first on the Web.com Tour.
David Grooms
Some golfers found sand traps an extra challenge.
David Grooms
Brandon Hagy, playing one group behind Richy Werenski, double bogeyed the par-3 11th that proved to be costly to the third-round leader.
David Grooms
Richy Werenski closed with birdies on Nos. 12, 15 and 16 to post 21-under 265 with a final-round 65, for the BMW Charity Pro-Am at Thornblade Club.
It is Werenski’s his first Web.com Tour title, also adding tournament’s $121,500 first-place prize.
The former Georgia Tech golfer, a native of South Hadley, Mass., vaulted into contention with three birdies on his opening nine to reach 18-under for the week.
Werenski had rounds of 68-67-65—200 (15-under) across three courses, with the annual Pro-Am featuring stops at host Thornblade Club (Greer), The Reserve at Lake Keowee and The Preserve at Verdae (Greenville).
Entering Sunday’s final round at Thornblade, Werenski trailed Brandon Hagy by one shot, but he quickly made a move with birdies on Nos. 1, 5 and 8 to turn at 18 under par – tied with Hagy with nine holes to play.
Hagy, playing one group behind Werenski, birdied the par-4 10th to grab the outright lead at 19 under par, but quickly gave back the cushion with a double bogey on the par-3 11th.
“I got a tough kick. It was maybe two yards off the fringe and kicked maybe 15 yards up against the plank there,” said Hagy, referencing the bulkhead that lines the right side of the watery par-3. “It happens, but that was not that bad of a shot.”
Hagy’s misfortune was Werenski’s open door, as a birdie at the par-4 12th put him in a brief tie for the lead alongside Scott Harrington at 19-under, while back-to-back birdies on the par-5 15th and par-5 16th pushed Werenski into the outright lead at 21-under for the week – two shots clear of the field at the time.
“I tried my best not to look at a scoreboard until the very end, and I can say I did that until 18,” said Werenski “That’s something my coach told us at Georgia Tech; scoreboard-watching brings in way too many variables, and you don’t want to pay attention to that, so I didn’t really know where I stood.”
Needing to get up-and-down to all but assure the win at the 18th, Werenski, 24, hit a chip shot to 2 feet of the hole, setting up a simplistic tap-in par for a closing 65.
“I feel the same as I usually feel. It hasn’t set in,” said Werenski. “I knew if I went out there and played solid, that’s all you can do. I’ve learned my last two tournaments that it’s either your day or it’s not.”
The win pushed Werenski’s 2016 money total to $258,958, good for second place on the money list.
“This is a totally different year than last year. I was fighting to get through the reshuffles. And now this year I can go out and keep playing and tallying up the money,” he said. “I’ve got my PGA Tour card, but my goal is to be No. 1 on the money list. I want to be fully exempt for next year.”
Zack Sucher, Brian Campbell and Brett Drewitt finished in a three-way tie for second at 19-under 267.
• In the tournament’s 25-year history it has been decided by two shots or less 19 times, including five playoffs.
• Werenski’s winning score of 21 under par, give the tournament a winner posting a 20-under-or-better total in each of the last four years, and seven of the last nine years.
