Headline: Four Former Bay State Golfers - Richy Werenski, Megan Khang, Brittany Altomore & Rob Oppenheim - Enjoy Succesful Weekends on the Tour
For Immediate Release: August 7, 2017
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Brookline, MA — Their names may not be Matsuyama, Piller or Kim but Richy Werenski, Rob Oppenheim, Megan Khang and Brittany Altomore were all champions this past weekend as far as the Bay State golf community was concerned.
In what was one of the most exciting weekends of golf which featured a women’s major, two PGA Tour events and a season-on-the-line Web.Com tournament, four golfers with Bay State golfers came through with outstanding and potentially season-making performances.
Here is a summary of what transpired this past weekend.
South Hadley’s Richy Werenski made Sunday evening interesting when he played his way into a three-man playoff at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship, which featured a Modified Stableford that awards five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie and take away one point for a bogey and three points for a double bogey or worse.
Werenski, who was a standout golfer on the Georgia Tech men’s golf team and the 2013 winner of the Massachusetts Four-Ball Championship, jumped into a two-point lead in the Barracuda Championship after six birdies and an eagle in the last hole during his second round.
Werenski would give up his lead during the weekend, but he came up clutch late on Sunday by making an 8-foot birdie putt on the last hole to advance into a playoff with Greg Owen and eventual champion Chris Stroud.
Both Stroud and Werenski made birdie on the first playoff hole, but Werenski’s dreams of capturing his first PGA Tour victory came to an end when Stroud hit a 5-iron to 12 feet on the second playoff hole. Werenski went long, chipped to 25 feet and missed the birdie putt.
“I haven’t experienced it before. I think it’s going to help me learn for the next time I’m in a playoff. I can just build off of this,” said Werenski to the PGA Tour following his round.
He went on to tell the PGA Tour that he was not flustered by the playoff atmosphere, as fans crowded around the 18th green.
“I’ll learn from this experience and take it to the next time I’m here. The week was really good, solid, felt like I really could have played a lot better. I think everybody always says that. But I know I definitely don’t have my best stuff. My game is trending in the right direction.”
Megan Khang and Brittany Altomare, who grew up playing golf in Brockton and Shrewsbury respectively, both made the cut and finished T49 at the Ricoh Women's British Open, which was held at Kingsbarns Golf Links located on the Fife coast near St Andrews.
Both players fired scores of 3-under par 69 on day one, but then Khang made a surge up the leaderboard on the second day with another 3-under par 69 to extend her stay at Kingsbarns Golf Links. She would cap off her weekend with rounds of 72 and 73.
Altomare carded a 1-over par 73 on day two, but rebounded with a 2-under par 70 on the third day. She finished off her experience with a 73 to finish T49. Both Altomare and Khang earned $11,000 for their efforts.
Khang was the 2015 WGAM Player of the Year who is enjoying her second season on the LPGA Tour. She has posted two top-10 finishes and has earned a total of $196,704. This past month, Khang took home her biggest check of the season - $44,705 – when she finished T8 at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
In 2016 during her LPGA Tour rookie season, Khang played in 28 events, made the cut 17 times and earned a total of $336,016.
Altomare is playing in her second straight season on the LPGA Tour. Following a successful collegiate career in which she recorded three victories, was named the 2013 ACC Player of the Year, and was a four-time All-American. Altomare competed on the Symetra Tour for four seasons before playing her way onto the LPGA Tour in 2016.
During that first season on the LPGA Tour, Altomare played in 18 events, made 12 cuts and earned $164,428. She recorded her best finish of that season – T11 – at the LPGA Volvik Championship. Thus far in 2017, she has made $155,422.
The race to the Top 25 on the Web.com Tour continues to be a nail biter for Rob Oppenheim, the 2009 winner of the Massachusetts Open Championship who grew up playing golf in Andover and was a longtime member at Indian Ridge Country Club.
Oppenheim entered the event 25th on the Web.com Tour money list. The top 25 earn their PGA Tour card. He now stands in 27th place after having earned a total of $127,809 to date in 2017. This past week, Oppenheim posted rounds of 65 on day one and two, but then fell back on the weekend with scores of 72 and 70 to finish T31 and earn $3,585.00.
Over a span of the last six months, Oppenheim will have played in more than 20 events in hopes of regaining a PGA Tour card that he last earned two years ago.
In 2015, Oppenheim was featured in national golf publications after he claimed the 25th and final Tour card by just $101. He then lost out in October of last year by $392 after the season's final event was canceled by a hurricane.
Oppenheim’s biggest break almost came early last month at the Utah Championship where he finished T2 and earned $52,266.66. He was leading that event on the back nine but suffered a double bogey on the 14th hole and ended up in a three-way tie for second, one shot behind the winner. A victory would have most likely secured his card.
