BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 2, 2020

Richy Werenski

Tahoe Mountain Club

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 oy owe I mean, 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.

THE MODERATOR: And your college roommate also won on the Korn Ferry TOUR, Seth Reeves. I don't know if you knew because you were out on the course. Talk about the significance of that.

RICHY WERENSKI: Yeah, we were actually warming up when we were on the chipping green, me and my caddie, and I told him to check the scores for the Web, and he said, oh, your buddy Seth Reeves is leading it. I said, what? Because I didn't know what he shot or anything. And so we knew -- we ended up teeing off before it was done, so I wasn't sure. But that was pretty cool. Georgia Tech, big weekend for Georgia Tech, so it was fun to see.

Q. 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.

Q. I was curious, I think you'd had some very close calls in terms of the FedExCup, being like 126 and just those weird numbers where you're just a few FedExCup points away. Obviously you've got job security now. Can you take us through some of those close calls that you've had maybe the last two or three or four years and what that's been like?

RICHY WERENSKI: Yeah. Last year I finished 126, and I think it was by like -- it's always pretty close. It was like less than a point or less than a couple of points, so it was really close. And then I had to go back to the Web finals last year, and I think I got like the last spot. Waited until the last event to play good, and I ended up just barely getting my card through that.

And then I guess I played Greenbrier, which I think it was the first or second event of the fall, and ended up finishing like third there, so that helped a lot with my reshuffle ranking, went all the way from like 49 or something like that to top 5 or 10. So it was good. That helped me get in a lot this year, a lot more than I would have.

So this year has been really good, obviously. But I think the year two years ago, three years ago was kind of right around 125 again. I've kind of always been in that 100 to 125 area, so it's cool to be I think like 34th or something. Haven't been there before, but I feel like my game is just getting better and better, so we'll see what we can do with it.

Q. Was there anybody that told you to keep going, don't give up, grind it out, you can do it, you're good enough? Anybody on TOUR who went to Georgia Tech or anybody on TOUR who you're friends with?

RICHY WERENSKI: Yeah, a bunch of people have told me that. My whole team, my swing coach and mental coach and fitness coach and all that, my caddie, everybody. Especially the caddies, the last couple I've had, I had Pepsi for a while, Steve Hale, and he always told me, he said, you've just got to believe in yourself a little bit. He knew I had a lot of talent and I was good enough to win out here. Heard it from him a lot. And then I heard it from my caddie now. I've been told that a few times, yeah.

Q. 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.