By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

           Russell Henley has had leads for extended periods in a variety of tournaments the past few years.

          At times, he has scorched a course or two for awhile, only for a monster on the tee box or green to emerge and turn a great round into a frustrating finish.

          He came close several times to getting his fourth win on the PGA Tour, and first since 2017 in Houston.

          Those final round frustrations were somewhat exorcised on Sunday when Henley completed one of the steadiest tournaments of his career with a steady finish and a 4-stroke win at the World Wide Technology Championship in Rivera Maya, Mexico.

          He shot a 261, with rounds of 63, 63, 65, and 70, tying his career-best  23-under par score – matching the second-place finish in the Sony Open in January - and maintaining a solid lead despite his highest round of the tournament.

          Brian Harman, another Georgia Bulldog, was second, with Scottie Scheffler, Joel Dahmen, Troy Merrit, Seamus Power, and Will Gordon tied for third, five back. 

          Henley made a monster jump in the Fed Ex Cup standings, albeit early, from tied for 155th to sixth, in his 249th PGA Tour start.

          He also took home a check for nearly $1.5 million.

          Part of the exorcism was specific to the location.

          In 2019 at this tournament, Henley saw that a different model of ball was in his bag than what he was using. He had been signing those balls earlier for fans, and wasn’t sure how one got in his bag, but used it. He reported the situation during the second round, but took an eight-stroke penalty, two shots for each hole he used the wrong ball on.

          He opened with a 66, and went from contention to a 77, four pars to four double bogeys, and a missed cut. Said PGA Tour rule official Brad Fabel: “He was great. I’ve got a ton of respect for that gentleman.”

‘I don’t think I would have done it unless I had kind of failed so many times’
Leaderboard
Henley in 2022-23 so far
Henley in 2021-22
In the bag
Tournament grades
What happened in 2019
How’d Tiger do this 80-some times?

          In August, Henley went 46 straight holes without a bogey at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. A week later at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, he started off with 47 straight holes without a bogey, but had five the rest of the way.

          He was 16 and 13 under in those two tournaments.

          Since 2020, he has been the leader after 54 holes four times, and suffered from fourth-round slumps.

          Not this time.

          “Just tried to learn from my past and my screwups,” said Henley, battling some emotions. “That’s what I took from my last two events that I played from the start of this season. Just, ‘What am I doing wrong and how can I get better with it?’

          He got some answers.

          Henley started Sunday with the largest 54-hole lead in a PGA Tour event since Billy Horschel was up five in the Memorial last June.

          He avoided a bogey for 59 holes this go ‘round, finally getting caught on No. 5 Sunday as Scottie Scheffler made a run and closed in with a dazzling final round 62.

          But Henley regrouped immediately with three straight birdies to re-establish a 6-shot lead through eight.

          The lead from then on remained at five for a good while, Harman cutting into it with a nice round, a hole ahead of Henley, possible setting up a tight finish.

          It didn’t happen. He lost a stroke with a bogey on 16, and Harman went to the clubhouse four back.

          Henley teed off on No. 18 – a hole he parred twice and birdied - with that 4-shot lead. And he sealed the deal with his 45th par of the tournament, which was tied for 33rd in the field, to equal the tournament record score.

          “I felt very nervous this weekend,” Henley said in the post-tournament TV interview. “I slept on the lead both nights. Never slept on a 6-shot lead.”

          It didn’t show on Sunday.

          He was in control for much of the tournament despite no eagles, thanks to those 25 birdies, which tied for first.

          Henley was second for the weekend in driving accuracy at 78.57 percent, countering a fairly normal performance in driving distance and longest drive.

          It was a nice turnaround for Henley since last year’s tournament, when he shot a 7-under 277 to tie for 56th, a nice start with rounds of 65 and 69 blindsided by a 76 on Saturday, and finished with a 67 on Sunday.

          Henley will now get ready to go for two straight on Thursday with the first round of the Houston Open at Memorial Park. Henley finished tie for seventh last year, despite a 72 on Friday.

          But enjoying a huge weekend comes first after Henley’s first win as a father.

          “I hope Robert and Ruth and Jane are watching, and I hope my dad’s watching, too,” he said. “It’s, man, it’s something. I get emotional.”

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Saturday's round

Russell Henley went on a huge run last season of bogey-free golf, but suffered hiccups on a few Sundays.
He’s on another such roll, with a different feel, and it has him on top of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
The Stratford grad racked up six more birdies to go with only pars and extended his lead to six strokes with a 6-under third round.
He is now 22 under par, ahead of Will Gordon and Patton Kizzire.
Henley doesn’t recall having a lead like this entering the final round, but he has been in first on Sunday before. It hasn’t gone well.
Short memory.
“I’m really trying not to think about the score,” he said, “and just think about each shot.
“It’s definitely tough to finish golf tournaments.”
He’ll try to do that starting with a 1 p.m. tee time, the final round on the Golf Channel at 2 p.m.

Friday's round
Consistency abandoned Russell Henley for a period last season, and hasn’t appeared in the early stages of the season.
He sure has it so far at the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico.
Henley repeated his first-round 63 in the second round on Friday to take a three-shot lead over Sam Ryder and Will Gordon.
He even matched how he shot 63: pars and birdies. He birdied five of the same holes on Friday as Thursday.
It’s his best two-round total since 165 in last year’s Sony Open, in January, when he had the lead much of the tournament and finished second.
He tees off Saturday at 2 p.m. The action will be on the Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m., and from 2-5 on Sunday.

Thursday's round
A few weeks off didn’t lead to any rust for Russell Henley.
The Maconite turned in a bogey-free first round of the World Wide Technology Championship in Riviera Maya, Mexico on Thursday.
He sits in second sole possession of second place with an 8-under 63. It’s his best round since the Sony Open last January when he had a 62 in the first round and 63 in the second round en route to a second-place finish. It’s his first round of 65 or less in 15 rounds, dating back to the Wyndham Championship in August and a second-round 65.
Will Gordon holds the lead.
Henley was steady, with eight birdies and 10 pars. Former UGA teammate Harris English is tied for third, one back.