By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Before making the turn, Russell Henley had more bogeys than birdies, and maybe he was undergoing yet another Sunday struggle.

          He had dropped into a tie for 28th, and while he was still set to advance to the second PGA Tour playoff tournament, in Illinois, maybe he wouldn’t be heading there with momentum.

          Then again, maybe he would.

          Henley reeled off three straight birdies to get rolling on the back nine and added another one for a 3-under round and a surge into the top 10 for a tie for sixth in the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.

          Instead of finishing perhaps double-digit strokes behind the winner, Henley was only four shots back of co-leaders Lucas Glover and Patrick Cantlay, Glover winning in a playoff.

          The hole of the day for Henley might have been on the par-4, 399-yard No. 15, the fifth-ranked hole of the course.

          His 270-yard tee shot landed in the right rough, but he escaped magnificently with a 141-yard effort that landed on the green, 18 feet from the hole. He then tapped in from a half foot for a superb par save.

          It was around that point last week that Henley’s superb tournament in North Carolina fell apart. He avoided a late-round slump, with a birdie on 16 and two straight pars for a 67.

          Henley again was steady and consistent, finishing in the top 20 in the 70-player field in shots gained putting and tee to green, scrambling, and putts per greens in regulation, and in the top 10 in driving accuracy, greens in regulation, and birdies.

          It all led to a quality Sunday, and a paycheck of $584,285, pushing him past $5 million this season.

          He moved up to No. 15 in the FedExCup rankings, solidifying his trip to East Lake in Atlanta and the Tour Championship, the top 30 from this week’s BMW Championship advancing.

Henley is on a run of eight straight sub-70 rounds, after doing that in seven of eight rounds in a two-tournament stretch to end June and begin July.

          Henley has been in the top 40 in the Official World Golf Ranking since winning the World Wide Technology championship last fall. He’s 29th, and on the verge of passing his career-best No. 27 spot.

          He’s set for his best FedExCup ranking since finishing 13th in 2017. He missed the first-round playoff cut last year, the Cup changing its parameters again this year. He has played in two Tour Championships, finishing tied for third in 2017 and 12th in 2014.