Henley falls from the lead, but steady down the stretch keeps him high on the leaderboard
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Russell Henley’s been here before.
In general, and at the Wyndham Championship. Get off to a good start, solid couple rounds, seem to be in control, and then, not so much.
Billy Horschel got hot and Henley cooled off on the back nine Saturday in the third round of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C.
Henley warmed up nicely at the end of the day, though, and heads to the final round in third place, one shot back of co-leaders Horschel and Lucas Glover.
Henley is in the next-to-last group Sunday, and tees off at 1:45 p.m with Byeong Hun An.
A 65 for the day didn’t appear likely an hour earlier, but Henley left the course with huge momentum with his 27-foot birdie on 18.
After watching Horschel try to circle it in from 36 feet, Henley sent it hard left and the putt curled right., right on target into the middle of the cup for a second straight birdie.
The putter was an ally for Henley most of the day. Through 11 holes, his longest par putt was three feet, three inches.
It was a little less help right after that as Horschel took a two-stroke lead after 13, thanks to a Henley bogey and Horschel birdie, and a birdie drought for Henley.
Henley was in position for one or two more bogeys down the stretch as he suddenly got shaky off the tee, but managed impressive pars on 14 and 15. Horschel, though, was countering with mostly birdies.
Henley wasn’t sharp on the back nine, but was impressive with steadiness and avoiding more trouble.
Henley’s streak of straight fairways hit on Saturday ended on No. 10 when he found some deep rough to the left, with a one-shot lead over Lucas Glover.
He got out of it and drained a par putt of just less than four feet, staying up on Glover and Horschel.
Michael Kim surged into contention with an 8-under round at that point, 11 under and five back of Henley when he finished, while Henley was making the turn. As Henley approached the No. 11 tee box, 15 other players were at 9 under or better.
Horschel moved into a tie for first with a birdie on 11, and his tee shot on 12 left him 24 feet from a birdie, on the green, while Henley had a tougher shot of 65 feet, short of the green.
Horschel’s second shot was a half-inch right, and he settled for par, which was enough for the lead after Henley’s third shot from 13 feet was a half-inch left, and he settled for a bogey.
That dropped him into a tie with Glover.
Horschel birdied 13 from a dozen feet, and Henley’s 13-footer was off to the left, and the par dropped him to two back.
Up came the tough par-4 14th, ranked first.
Henley made it more difficult with a tee shot the soared right out of bounds, just next the cart path, while Horschel hit a near-perfect shot down the middle of the fairway.
Horschel’s second shot left him in a crease between the green and rough, while Henley avoided the rough, about 100 yards from the pin.
Both, though, made nice saves for par.
That didn’t appear likely for Henley on 15, though, thanks to a tee shot that went straight into the creek followed by finding another deep fluffy rough.
Amid falling into a tie for third with An and Horschel starting to pull away, Henley got out of big trouble, with a 76-foot putt – thanks to a nice escape – to set up a three-footer for par that Henley got.
From 10 to 15, Horschel had four birdies and two pars to four pars and a bogey for Henley.
Henley got one back with a birdie on 17, right before Glover birdied 18 for a 62 and into a tie for first. He then headed to the clubhouse after one of the shots of the day.
He has finished tied for ninth, seventh, and fifth in his last three Wyndhams. Henley shot 65, 71, and 66 in those fourth rounds.
