Henley carries another top-10 finish and momentum into playoffs

 By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

 

          For the second straight year, Russell Henley was among the serious contenders at the Wyndham Championship from start to finish.

          But they were very different tournaments.

          Henley led most of last year, but staggered down the stretch and missed a playoff, a fairly crushing finish. This time, he turned in a very steady performance – for the second week in a row – for a 13-under 267. Visit the leaderboard here.

          Henley shot below 70 in all four rounds for the third time this season, shooting for his second straight top-10 finish and fourth of the season. He was tied for fifth when he finished, six back of leader Joohyung Kim, and that’s where he finished. Kim shot out of the clubhouse Sunday with a hot start, and then maintained on the back nine for a 20-under tournament and five-shot win with a final-round 61.

          He strayed from the top five only briefly, coming Sunday morning when the third round was completed. Henley’s bogey-free streak reached 47, one more than last week, with one on No. 12 to start Sunday’s early-morning action. He finished the third round with two more bogeys, two birdies, and a par for a 69.

          The active finish of the third round dropped Henley into a tie for seventh at 9-under, four back of Sungjae Im, who emerged as the leader going into the final round.

          Fifteen players were within five shots of Im entering the final 18 holes, all teeing off after noon on Sunday.

          A year ago, Henley started Sunday in the lead, and ended barely missing what became a six-man playoff, won by fellow Georgia Bulldog Kevin Kisner.

          This year, there was no playoff, but there was also no fourth-round collapse down the stretch from Henley. Still, he was 1 over in the final six holes, with a bogey on 14 sandwiched by birdies, and then a bogey on 18 when he went from one rough to another.

          Again, though, Henley was close on scores of birdie putts only to settle for par. He finished even on the back nine in rounds three and four, bogeying 14 both times, and countering bogeys and birdie on 15 and 18.

          He had 49 pars, 18 birdies, and five bogeys, again avoiding double bogeys.

          Unofficially, Henley is 32nd in the FedEx Cup rankings entering the playoffs, moving up nine spots on Sunday. Despite the slightly sluggish finish, Henley carries plenty of momentum as one of the 125 who play on.

          He’s 29 under par in his last two tournaments, four shots off the 33-under for the RSM Classic and Sony Open in January. But he’s playing perhaps the most consistent golf of his career, avoiding major trouble and getting manageable bogeys and avoid doubles, or worse.

          The top will play in the FedEx St. Jude Championship starting Thursday in Memphis, with the top 70 advancing to the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Del.

          Then the top 30 go for the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

          Henley finished 13th in the FedEx standings in 2016-17 and 19th in 2013-14. The paycheck of about $270,100 puts him at nearly $2.8 million for the season – second-best - and $20.5 million for his full-time pro career.