Richy Werenski is at home at TPC Boston, without the home course advantage
Werenski, 28, is getting his chance in the opening tournament of the FedExCup playoffs in what has been the best two months of his professional career.
For Massachusetts native Richy Werenski, getting to play in The Northern Trust at TPC Boston was always going to be a thrill. Compared with the far-flung locations of so many other PGA Tour events, the Norton-based course is practically the backyard of his youth.
“It’s awesome, I mean I grew up about an hour and a half from here,” Werenski said Wednesday. “So I’ve played out here a few times when I was younger.”
Werenski, 28, is getting his chance in the opening tournament of the FedExCup playoffs in what has been the best two months of his professional career. He earned his first PGA win earlier in August at the Barracuda Championship, and tied for third at the 3M Open in July. Werenski, who grew up in South Hadley, is ranked 41st in the FedEx Cup standings.
The secret to his newfound success has been simple.
“I just kind of kept everything light,” Werenski said. “I kept myself pretty relaxed and things kind of just fell into place.”
The only damper on his late charge to TPC Boston will be the lack of fans. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Northern Trust organizers decided the tournament would be played without spectators.
Though Werenski added “it’s still really cool to be playing here and I am excited about it,” he couldn’t hide his disappointment at not receiving a home-crowd advantage.
“I have just a lot of family and friends in the area,” he explained. “I have fans all throughout Massachusetts, so it’s kind of a bummer that there are no fans this week because it would have been really fun.”
Werenski gets his first round underway on Thursday at 12:33 p.m alongside Kevin Kisner and Mark Hubbard.
Injured Brooks Koepka withdraws
Brooks Koepka, the seventh-ranked golfer in the world, withdrew from The Northern Trust on Wednesday because of an injury, according to PGA Tour.
Koepka, 30, a winner of four majors in his career, has been dealing with hip and knee problems. He attributed missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship last week because of injuries.
“Brooks is one of the biggest names in the game,” Rory McIlroy said. “We’ve all seen his physical struggles since last year.”
McIlroy backed Koepka’s decision to take time away from competition to recover.
“I think it’s smart on his part to do that,” said McIlroy. “Hopefully [he] comes back healthy and comes back ready to play.”
Ranked 97th in FedExCup points standings, Koepka would have needed a strong showing to make it inside the top 70 and qualify for the second tournament of the playoffs, next week’s BMW Championship in Olympia Fields, Ill.
Champ is charity champ
Four players got an early look at TPC Boston’s back nine during a charity competition Wednesday.
Cameron Champ emerged victorious, outplaying Charley Hoffman, Marc Leishman, and Abraham Ancer. Each golfer represented a Massachusetts-based charity. In total, $300,000 was split among the charities.
“Today was just all about giving back, and fund-raising money,” said the 25-year-old Champ. “I enjoyed it. This was a great group of guys to come out here and play.”
Speaking locally
Along with Werenski, fans of local golfers will have a pair of names to keep an eye on.
Scott Stallings, 35, was born in Worcester. Though his family moved to Knoxville, Tenn., when he was 3, Stallings always has been a fan of New England sports teams. In 2011, he arrived in New England for the Travelers Championship a week early so he could attend the Bruins’ Stanley Cup victory parade.
And Keegan Bradley, 34, was a 2004 graduate of Hopkinton High School. He won the MIAA Division 2 individual state championship.
Bradley, the winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, is a true New Englander. Along with his Massachusetts background, he also lived for two years in Portsmouth, N.H., and was born in Woodstock, Vt.
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