Richy Werenski enters the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
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Not all cuts are made equal.
Friday at Butterfield Bermuda ChampionshipRichy Werenski told us why.
As the PGA Tour journeyman stood on the 17th tee (his eighth hole) on Friday in Bermuda, he was completely out of it. After another bogey on the 16th, Werenski was three over for the day, five over for the tournament, and seven the back of the designed cut line.
Worse yet, Werenski knew the forecast for the day called for storms during the last two hours of his round. Rain can – and often does – reign terror on the Port Royal golf course during the PGA Tour’s visit. The coastal structure has almost no protection from Bermuda’s strong coastal winds, leaving room for all kinds of competitive mayhem.
In Werenski’s case, it was extra bad news, seeing as he needed to birdie nearly every hole en route to the evening daydream to do it on the weekend in Bermuda.
There was certainly a chance to make the cut, but it was disappearing faster than mid-November light.
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Two-and-a-half hours later, Richy Werenski stood on the 9th green at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship holding on for a miracle.
He had done birdies on six of his last 10 holesincluding four in a row starting on the 17th and ending on the second hole. He had climbed from seven shots off the cut line to stay within a chip shot of a weekend berth – and a payday – in Bermuda.
But as he sized his third shot on the par-4 9th, he knew he needed more than skill to find the bottom of the hole.
The wind was screaming now at 9 by the sea, and the sun had long since disappeared into the horizon. Rain fell sideways from the clouds, hitting players and corpses. Werenski didn’t just have to judge the green’s slope, grain and distance, he also needed to account for Mother Nature.
Finally, he stepped up to the chip and plunged his stick into the ground.
The ball took off, bouncing across the putting surface with a delicate touch. Werenski watched as the ball dropped toward the hole, the flag waving back at him, closer and closer to the hole. And then, just when it looked like the wind might go off the course, the ball reached the flagstick and dropped right in.
Werenski had birdied the ninth, making it seven shots in 11 holes to make the cut and cap one of the PGA Tour’s most impressive comebacks in recent memory.
It was a remarkable finish for Werenski, but he didn’t stop there. He came out hot again on Saturday, making six birdies and no bogeys to push himself to eight under and T32.
