Masters 2022, round 3: Henley continues to ride a Masters roller coaster
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The search for consistency in a good way continued on Saturday for Russell Henley, and the majority of the Masters field.
On moving day, the wind kept moving and the temperatures moved downward. Some scores followed the temps.
Russell Henley’s, for one.
Henley’s front nine was one of bogeys and birdies, with four of the former and three of the latter with two pars, including No. 1, which Henley had double-bogeyed twice.
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Masters 2022, round 2: Respectable finish after ragged start has Henley making the cut
Henley opens the Masters with expectations as a dark-horse contender
So, Henley was 1 over through nine, with 12 of the top 16 players yet to tee off. It didn’t get any better, Henley finishing with a 4-over 76 for a three-round 7-over 223.
He’s tied for 41st, along with Jon Rahm and Tiger Woods, and tees off at 11 a.m. Sunday with Daniel Berger.
The roller coaster was full of players early. Bubba Watson opened with a triple bogey. Cameron Davis started the day 4 over and had lost five shots by the end of his front nine. Adam Scott lost four in that span, and soon enough was 10 over.
Henley was among those considered a dark-horse contender, so the question became if the contenders would come back to the field a little bit. Early on in their rounds, they weren’t.
The second level of contenders started off maintaining or improving their scores slightly.
Henley hit some potholes after the turn, following a par and two birdies with a bogey and double bogey – his first shot on par 3 12 found water - to fall to 6 over for the tournament and 3 over for the round.
By that point, Scott was done for the day at 12 over and Mackenzie Hughes at 9 over, then Davis at 11 over.
After two birdies, a bogey and a double bogey, Henley reeled off four pars before another double on 17, and then a par on 18 to finish a day in which his shots found more sand than on Thursday and Friday.
Through three rounds and 54 holes, Henley has 29 pars, 11 birdies, 10 bogeys, and four double bogeys.
For the first five holes alone, Henley is 5 over in three rounds. But on the back nine, he was 1 under through two rounds followed by 3 over on Saturday.
He is 5 over on the front nine and 2 over on the back nine.
Henley will be hanging around the region, as part of the field for the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, S.C.