He is the grandson of Mike Turnesa, one of seven well-known golfing brothers of the early 20th century.

Turnesa's first professional win was at the 2007 Miccosukee Championship on the Nationwide Tour.

Turnesa had success in the 2008 PGA Tour Fall Series at the Viking Classic; he led the tournament for the entire week until he double-bogeyed the seventeenth hole on Sunday, eventually losing in a playoff to Will MacKenzie.

A month later, Turnesa captured his first PGA Tour win at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open by one stroke over Matt Kuchar.

A back injury plagued Turnesa after the 2010 season and he spent most of his subsequent career on the Web.com Tour.