Richy Werenski clinched his first PGA TOUR win at today’s Barracuda Championship ousting yesterday’s leader, Troy Merritt, by just one point. He is the fifth consecutive winner to earn their first TOUR victory at the Modified Stableford format event.
On his 100th PGA TOUR start, Werenski finished with +39 (+6/+11/+9/+13). This isn’t Werenki’s first time on the Barracuda Championship leaderboard, in 2017 he was defeated in a three-way playoff.
Troy Merritt finishes runner-up after holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the second consecutive year with +38 (+8/+11/+14/+5). Both Werenski and Merritt have earned spots in the 2020 U.S. Open.
Fabian Gomez and Matthias Schwab tied for third with +37 (+3/+7/+11/+16) and +37 (+9/+11/+4/+13) respectively.
Final-Round Notes – Sunday, August 2, 2020
Final-Round Leaderboard
Richy Werenski +6/+11/+9/+13 – (+39)
Troy Merritt +8/+11/+14/+5 – (+38)
Fabian Gomez +3/+7/+11/+16 – (+37)
Matthias Schwab +9/+11/+4/+13 – (+37)
Things to Know
- Richy Werenski wins first PGA TOUR title following T3 finish at last week’s 3M Open
- Werenski joins Chris Stroud (2017) and Collin Morikawa (2019) as only players with come-from-behind wins since Barracuda Championship implemented Modified Stableford format
- Troy Merritt finishes runner-up after holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the second consecutive year
- Fabian Gomez posts best finish since 2016 Sony Open in Hawaii victory
- Aaron Wise records career-best 10 birdies en route to the best round of the week (+19)
- Werenski and Merritt earn spots in the 2020 U.S. Open as top two players, not otherwise exempt, finishing in the top-10 and ties
Richy Werenski (+39/1st)
- Wins first PGA TOUR title in his 100th start at 28 years, 7 months, 12 days
- Earned 11 points in the last seven holes en route to victory, highlighted by eagle 2 at No. 16; hit 38 of 56 fairways, 55 of 72 greens in regulation and needed 111 putts for the week
- Daily progression through the tournament: R1/T38 – R2/T12 – R3/T5 – R4/1st
- Earns exemptions into 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS Championship and multiple invitational events; also earns spot in next week’s PGA Championship if not already exempt, plus a spot in the 2020 U.S. Open as one of top two players, not otherwise exempt, finishing in the top-10 and ties;
- Was defeated in a three-way playoff in his Barracuda Championship debut in 2017 and wins the title in his fourth appearance (P2/2017, MC/2018, T41/2019, 1st/2020)
- Following his T3 result at last week’s 3M Open, records back-to-back top-10 finishes for second time in his career (P2/2017 Barracuda Championship, T10/2017 Wyndham Championship)
- Made every cut in his six starts since Return to Golf (T58/Charles Schwab Challenge, T46/Travelers Championship, T21/Rocket Mortgage Classic, T35/Workday Charity Open, T3/3M Open, 1st/Barracuda Championship)
Additional Notes
- After a birdie-birdie start, 54-hole leader Troy Merritt (+38/2nd) bogeys the par-5 6th hole and adds one additional birdie at the reachable par-4 8th hole before closing with 10 straight pars; finishes runner-up at the Barracuda Championship for the second consecutive year while holding the 54-hole lead
- Two-time PGA TOUR winner Fabian Gomez (+37/T3) produces bogey-free, 16-point final-round for his best finish since victory at 2016 Sony Open in Hawaii
- Playing on a sponsor exemption, Matthias Schwab (+37/T3) fell just short of the two-way tie for second or better to earn Special Temporary Membership; now requires 43 FedExCup points to earn Special Temporary Membership; top-10 finish earns a spot in the field at the 2020 Wyndham Championship; in the field for next week’s PGA Championship
- Robert Streb (+35/T5) records second straight top-five finish at Barracuda Championship (T3/2019, T5/2020)
- Scott Stallings (+35/T5) makes three eagles for the week to share the most eagles for the week with Roberto Castro (+26/T21)
- PGA TOUR rookie Maverick McNealy’s (+34/7th) three career top-10s have all come this season (T5/AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm, T8/Rocket Mortgage Classic, 7th/Barracuda Championship)
- Despite a bogey at the opening hole to lose a point, Aaron Wise (+33/8th) notches a career-best 10 birdies en route to a +19 score, the best 18-hole score of the week; began the final round in T39 position; second top-10 this season (T3/Bermuda Championship); began the week No. 161 in the FedExCup standings and moves to No. 149
- Brendan Steele (+17/T53) collects 11 points in a four-hole stretch (Nos. 6-9) en route to a +13 final-round score
Richy Werenski
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: We’d like to welcome the winner of the Barracuda Championship, Richy Werenski to our virtual press conference room. In your 100th start you earned your maiden PGA TOUR win. Can we get some comments about your first PGA TOUR victory.
RICHY WERENSKI: I guess I’m still kind of shocked it just happened so fast, making eagle on 16. I wasn’t really thinking of where I was at, I knew where the leader was, but right after I made that eagle we started doing the math, and I was like, we’re kind of right back in this thing. It was pretty crazy, but I’m super excited about it. Been playing well the last couple weeks and months, so it’s nice to finally get the win.
THE MODERATOR: Talk a little bit more about that finish. That’s the beauty of this modified Stableford format. With that eagle and the clutch birdie putt at the end to give you the win, how were your nerves? How were you controlling your nerves and what was going through your head?
RICHY WERENSKI: You know, yeah, this format is — that’s why it’s fun to play. eagles are huge, and after — I’m standing on 12 tee and I knew I wasn’t playing great. I wasn’t having like the best day. I didn’t feel like I was really swinging that well. After I kind of lipped out and hit the low edge on 12 for eagle, I was like, darn it, because that would have been big.
But I was kind of like, all right, let’s just go make as many birdies as we can and we’ll just see what happens. Like I said, I wasn’t really thinking about winning at that time, but it was funny because we were standing in the fairway on 16, and I was like, well, how about we just make it, and it ended up going in, so I guess that’s kind of funny. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I thought I hit a really good shot in on 17, gave myself a 10-footer for birdie and hit it how I wanted, just kind of was a little bit more uphill than I thought, so kind of lost some speed. After that tee shot on 18, I really — I thought I was going to be blocked out. I didn’t really think I was going to be able to go at the pin, but it was sitting just good enough in the rough where I could kind of get underneath it and hit it high enough to get it over the tree and hit a good shot.
Yeah, but it all kind of happened pretty quick. But I just really tried to like stay in my pre-shot routine and just kind of do what I’d been doing on the greens and not start thinking about all this other stuff.
THE MODERATOR: This win with 300 FedExCup points moves you to No. 34 in the FedExCup standings, and with only a couple weeks left until the Playoffs, how crucial was this win for you as you enter the Playoffs?
RICHY WERENSKI: Yeah, it was huge. You know, I’m trying to — I want to make it to East Lake. Obviously, that’s the goal. This puts me really close. I was kind of disappointed last week at 3M; I put myself in a good position to win and didn’t. But this is huge. I mean, 300 points, that’s a big jump. I think we’re going to make a good run at the Playoffs.
THE MODERATOR: A lot of bonuses that come with the win this week, as well. You get to the PGA, the U.S. Open, THE PLAYERS Championship next year along with Sentry Tournament of Champions. Talk about those bonuses and how that affects your career.
RICHY WERENSKI: Yeah, it’s awesome. I’ve played two or three majors in my career, and to be able to play the PGA and U.S. Open again, it’s just incredible. There’s nothing like it. Super excited about that. And obviously Tournament of Champions, never played there, so it’s going to be really cool.
I heard that you’ve been wedding planning and that that helps keeps you calm. Can you talk about that?
RICHY WERENSKI: Yeah, I knew at least I got — I can maybe buy a little nicer cake now. But yeah, it’s been fun. We’re really excited. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be here before we know it, so we’re excited.
Does the TOUR championship become a serious target now, and does the win give you the freedom to keep your foot down like you did today?
RICHY WERENSKI: Oh, yeah, that’s huge. That’s the goal is to make it to the TOUR Championship and make a move there. I’ve never really gotten too deep in the Playoffs. I think a couple years I’ve played in the first one, but I don’t feel like I’ve ever really been playing as good as I am right now, so I’m really looking forward to it. I think there’s a lot of points available, and anything can happen, so this win is huge to just kind of get me in a little bit better position.
Troy Merritt
Quick Quotes
During the closing holes how acutely aware were you of what Richy Werenski was doing coming down the stretch?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, I was watching the whole back nine and I saw that Matthias made eagle on 12 to get to 36 and then birdied 13 and 14 to get to 38 to pull even. I knew we needed one or two coming in to get to 40 or 42 and then I saw that Richy had gotten it to 37. I think he birdied 16, and then walking up 17 I saw he had birdied 18. We knew what we had to do. Hit a lot of quality shots today, hit a lot of greens. Just couldn’t find that one birdie on the back side.
Were the par-5s the key? You made the bogey on the 6th hole and then you didn’t make the birdie with an iron in your hand at 12. Is that ultimately what cost you?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, you’re looking at a three-point swing basically on 6 when it hit the tree. I think we just got a tough gust. It landed a good way up that hill and just didn’t want to stay up there. You can’t bogey the par-5s, especially when you go for them in two. Yeah, I didn’t think I could clear the trees with that 5-iron on 12 so I tried to hit the hard fade and just didn’t pull it off and just got into a real awkward spot, and it was a tough shot. I gave it my best today and I just came up one point shot.
Obviously a disappointing moment I’m sure, but still a really successful week. When did you first get a sense of what was going on with Richy ahead of you on the back nine?
TROY MERRITT: You know, I saw that he was coming up — made birdie on 16 to get to within one point and then walking up on 17 I saw he birdied 18 to get to 39. I knew we needed to make a birdie coming in. I figured Matthias was going to at least get to 40, so I was trying to make one to get to 40, as well. It just didn’t happen. I finished the day with 10 straight pars and had 10 birdie putts, even one from the first cut, and just couldn’t get one to fall. It goes like that sometimes. That’s a little bit frustrating, but still a very solid week. Form has been a little sporadic this year. I really like this format. I like the Stableford format. It gives me a chance to recover from the multitude of bogeys that I usually find. It was another fun week. Gave it my best, just one point short.
You mentioned yesterday when you agreed to wear the microphone in the final round that it may help you with your temperament. Do you feel that that was the case today?
TROY MERRITT: Yeah, I mean, any time you’re in the final group and you’re in contention to win, you’ve got to keep things even keel. It doesn’t do any good to ponder over a poor shot or a bad break or a bad bounce or something like that. You’ve just got to keep pushing forward. Yeah, kind of having that microphone on kept me in check a little bit, reminded me to just focus on the next one, do your best, and add them all up and just one point short.
I know the victory was what you were after, but you’ve become the first 54-hole leader to wear one.
TROY MERRITT: Well, hopefully the next person that wears one as the 54-hole leader finishes the job off and they can go down in the history books as the first winner to wear that microphone.
Compiled by Dennis Miller