Georgia Tech #ProJackets Golf Report

THE FLATS – For the first time in Georgia Tech’s golf history, two former Yellow Jackets – Richy Werenski and Seth Reeves – captured victories on the same weekend at the highest levels of professional golf … Three Jackets are in the field for the first 2020 major championship, the PGA Championship in San Francisco … Former Jackets begin competing in new international tour … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.

*****

TWO CHAMPIONS IN ONE WEEKEND UNPRECEDENTED

There is a first time for everything. Two Georgia Tech alumni had never before won on the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour on the same weekend. Last weekend’s accomplishment for Richy Werenski and Seth Reeves seems unlikely in several ways, not the least of which was the ground that each had to make up in the final round on Sunday to win. Werenski began Sunday’s round at the Barracuda Championship in fifth place, seven points behind 54-hole leader Troy Merritt. He caught up with an eagle on the 16^th hole and won it with a birdie on the 18^th. Reeves was even further back, in a tie for 27^th place after making the cut by one stroke, and fired a closing 64 to win by one stroke.

Their victories emphasize the strength of the Yellow Jackets’ golf teams during their careers (2010-14), in which they competed with Ollie Schniederjans and Anders Albertson, each of whom have won on the Korn Ferry Tour, leading Tech to three Atlantic Coast Conference championships and a berth in the NCAA Championship match play three times. Vincent Whaley, a rookie on the PGA Tour this year, was a freshman on the 2014 team and didn’t make the lineup for the NCAA Championship.

Georgia Tech seniors Richy Werenski (left) and Seth Reeves during the 2013 Carpet Capital Collegiate.

THREE JACKETS IN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Richy Werenski’s victory at the Barracuda Championship last weekend enabled him to join Matt Kuchar and Cameron Tringale in the field for the first major championship of the season, the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Calif.

Kuchar made the field on the strength of his top-15 finish in 2019 but also accrued the necessary PGA Championship points and qualified in other ways. Tringale’s performance in 2019-20 lifted him high enough to FedEx Cup points to place him the field for the sixth time, while Werenski earned his first berth in the event as a 2020 winner.

Kuchar has made the PGA Championship field every year since 2010 with one exception, finishing in the top 10 four times, including a tie for eighth last year at Bethpage Black on New York’s Long Island.

Championship coverage

*****

PGA TOUR UPDATE

Richy Werenski’s victory at the Barracuda Championship not only solidified his position to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs but also to advance. Entering this weekend’s PGA Championship, Werenski stands at No. 34 (up from No. 72) with only one regular-season event remains on the PGA Tour schedule, the Wyndham Championship Aug. 13-16 in Greensboro, N.C. The top 125 players in FedEx Cup points following the Wyndham advance to the Northern Trust on Aug. 20-23 in Boston, and the top 70 move on to the BMW Championship Aug. 27-30 in Chicago. The top 30 following the BMW come to Atlanta for the Tour Championship.

The win gave Werenski full PGA Tour status through the 2020-21 season and entry not only into the upcoming PGA Championship, but also the U.S. Open in September, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January and The Players Championship next spring.

Chesson Hadley (T17) and Roberto Castro (T21) also posted strong performances in the Modified Stableford scoring format (points added for birdies and bogeys, subtracted for bogeys or worse).

Meanwhile, Matt Kuchar played a solid four rounds to tie for 25^th place at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the World Golf Championships series event last weekend at TPC Southwind in Memphis. Kuchar posted opening and closing rounds of 66 for a 72-hole total of 275 (-5). He currently sits No. 59 on the FedEx Cup list.

FedEx St. Jude leaderboard  |  Barracuda leaderboard

KORN FERRY TOUR UPDATE

Seth Reeves’ come-from behind win boosted him from 135^th to 18^th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, and earned him entry into the remaining nine events on the 2020-21 revamped schedule, as well as 2022. The Tech All-American, whose best finish in 2020 was a tie for 24^th, had missed the cut in all six Korn Ferry events since the return to golf after the coronavirus outbreak, and he had barely made the cut following rounds of 74-67. But the lefthander shot 68-64 on the weekend and was still a stroke behind when he finished his round two hours ahead of the leaders.

Beginning the weekend, it was Nicholas Thompson who contended after opening with rounds of 66-70, but the 2005 graduate fell back with a Saturday 79 and finished in a tie for 58^th. J.T. Griffin missed the cut, and Anders Albertson had to withdraw following a first-round 67 due to a positive Covid-19 test. Albertson later learned the test was a false positive and will return to action this week.

Korn Ferry leaderboard

The Korn Ferry Tour moves to the West Coast this week for the WinCo Foods Portland Open at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., where Albertson (No. 104 in Korn Ferry points), Paul Haley II (No. 25), J.T. Griffin (No. 39), Ollie Schniederjans (No. 35) and Nicholas Thompson (No. 132) will be back in action. Griffin missed the cut last weekend, while Haley and Schniederjans took the week off.

CHAMPIONS TOUR RESUMES COMPETITION

The PGA Tour Champions resumed competition last weekend at the Ally Championship in Warwick Hills, Mich., and Larry Mize turned in a tie for 52^nd place with a 1-under-par total of 215. He sits No. 43 in the Charles Schwab Cup points list. The senior tour takes this week off before returning to action next week at Firestone Country Club for the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.

Champions Tour leaderboard

*****

FORMER JACKETS BEGIN COMPETITION IN INTERNATIONAL TOUR

James Clark, Chris Petefish and other Yellow Jacket pros will be competing this week at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta in the first of an eight-event, U.S.-based tournament series designed for members of the PGA Tours in Canada, Latino America and China. Clark has competed in various developmental tour events around the Southeastern U.S., while Petefish has status on the MacKenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada).

The first event will be played this Tuesday through Friday at Golf Club of Georgia, with events to follow next week at Echelon Golf Club in Alpharetta, Aug. 25-28 at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Aug. 31-Sept. 3 in Auburn, Ala., Sept. 22-25 in Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Lady Lake, Fla., and Oct. 6-9 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A season finale event will be held Oct. 26-30 at a site to be announced.

READ MORE

*****

DUVAL SIGNS ON WITH ESPN FOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

David Duval, the former World No. 1, will serve as ESPN’s lead analyst in the 18th-hole tower for the network’s coverage of the PGA Championship next week alongside Scott Van Pelt. Duval previously worked for ESPN as an analyst for a couple of years before joining Golf Channel in early 2015. He made his debut as a TV analyst on ESPN’s coverage of the U.S. Open in 2012 and became a mainstay of the network’s U.S. Open coverage and at The Open Championship through 2014. Duval will work double duty, contributing to primetime coverage of Golf Central Live From the PGA Championship.  READ MORE

#PROJACKETS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Congratulations, @WerenskiR!

With this win @CudaChamp he gets …
✅ A full exemption thru 2021-22 season
✅ Into next week’s PGA Championship
✅ Into this year’s U.S. Open
✅ Into the 2021 @Sentry_TOC
✅ Into the 2021 @THEPLAYERSChamp
✅ 300 #FedExCup points

Life-changing. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/VXt3Da2DG0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 3, 2020

Hard to describe this feeling right now!! Years of hard work and trusting the process 🏆 @CudaChamp pic.twitter.com/rBN9mQy0uw

— Richy Werenski (@werenskir) August 3, 2020

.@werenskir talks about earning his first TOUR win at the @CudaChamp. https://t.co/TIpwzzdW19

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 3, 2020

🏆 @WerenskiR has won @CudaChamp!

It’s his 100th career start and first win. pic.twitter.com/RLpOJp38V0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 3, 2020

“I asked my caddie, headed to the first tee, ‘What’s the lead?'”

Two weeks ago, @Seth_Reeves shot 80-84 @TPCSanAntonio and finished last.

After six straight missed cuts in the Return to Golf, he entered Sunday @PinnBankGolf T27.

Eight off the lead.

7-under 64 to win. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/fkDe7PhIFF

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 3, 2020

Playing 140 minutes ahead of the final pairing, @Seth_Reeves carded 7-under 64 on Sunday @PinnBankGolf.

54-hole leader @RRuffels bogeyed two of the final three holes, falling into a five-way tie at 10-under, one short of Reeves.

Largest #KornFerryTour comeback in 10 years. pic.twitter.com/SnL0n7L465

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 3, 2020

After @Seth_Reeves posted 11-under @PinnBankGolf, five players had a chance to match with a birdie at the last.

All made par.

The tools of our newest #KornFerryTour champion. https://t.co/B5aqGs6bE9

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 3, 2020

That feeling when you win for the first time on the #KornFerryTour. 🕺@seth_reeves pic.twitter.com/7Lj2cx9oaP

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 2, 2020

Two winners. Two teammates. Two best friends. Hell ya❗️@PGATOUR @KornFerryTour @seth_reeves @werenskir pic.twitter.com/jzRmwirIGV

— Bo Andrews (@CoachBoA13) August 3, 2020

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Mixtape dropping soon 🔥 Found this gem in the attic today. Circa 1999

A post shared by David Duval (@davidduval59) on Jul 18, 2020 at 7:48pm PDT

UPCOMING EVENTS (subject to change)

• PGA Tour:  PGA Championship • August 6-9, 2020 • TPC Harding Park • San Francisco, Calif. • Purse: $11,000,000
• Korn Ferry Tour:  WinCo Foods Portland Open • August 6-9, 2020 • Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club • North Plains Ore. • Purse: $800,000
• PGA Tour Champions:  Bridgestone Senior Players Championship • August 13-16, 2020 • Firestone Country Club • Akron, Ohio • Purse: $2,800,000
• Mackenzie Tour:  remainder of 2020 season cancelled
• PGA Tour Series – China:  remainder of 2020 season cancelled
• PGA Tour LatinoAmerica:  remainder of 2020 season cancelled
• All Pro Tour:  United Way Charity Golf Classic • August 5-8, 2020 • Hardscrabble Country Club • Fort Smith, Ark. • Purse: $140,000
• G Pro Tour:  Gaston Classic • August 11-13, 2020 • Gaston Country Club • Gastonia, N.C.
• SwingThought Tour:  Old South Golf Links • August 4-5, 2020 • Bluffton, S.C.