Henley showing consistency on Pinehurst course that's leaving players in the dust
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Consistency is an important part of anything in sports, and Russell Henley has some going for him.
In Thursday’s first round of the U.S. Open, Henley had five birdies and five bogeys to finish at even par. He took a different route to the same result on Friday, and sits in strong contention heading into moving day.
Henley’s second straight even-par 70 has him tied for 16th with three other top-50 players – Billy Horschel, Sam Burns, and Stephan Jaeger – along with Sergio Garcia.
That group is only five shots behind leader Ludvig Aberg.
The cut line was set at 5 over, and Henley was in no trouble of approaching it.
Others – like No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No 11 Shane Lowry, No. 24 Adam Hadwin, No. 14 Max Homa, and No. 15 Sungjae Im – had the day to sweat things out.
Scheffler was in the morning group and finished 5 over, wounded by a double bogey on par 5 No. 5, a week after he survived a triple bogey. Lowry and Homa were in the same boat, done early and waiting.
As was defending champ Wyndham Clark, done early at 4 over.
Scheffler, Lowry, and Clark made it, Homa and Im didn’t.
Able to pack or start planning ahead after the early group finished:
No. 30 Will Zalatoris, No. 36 Nick Taylor, No. 16 Jason Day, No. 25 Tim Hoge, and, No. 8 Byeong Hun An, all at 8 over. No. 17 Justin Thomas, No. 40 Jake Knapp, and No. 46 Mackenzie Hughes, among others, were 10 over or worse.
Tiger Woods finished 7 over and Phil Mickelson 15 over.
After the double on No. 5, Henley settled into a respectable groove, with pars and birdies for the next nine holes, getting back to even after nine, tied for 17th and five shots back of then-leader Ludvig Aberg.
Consider a contribution to support Central Georgia's most relevant, professional, and complete sports coverage. It's appreciated. Click on ☝🏼, or on 'contribute' up top, or email centralgasports@gmail.com for other options. 😎
Patrick Cantlay, the leader after one and playing with Henley, dropped one spot and was 1 over through nine.
A bogey on 15 put Henley back at even, and he stayed in the top 20.
He didn’t Thursday’s late-round stumble – bogeys on four of the final five holes – as he opened Friday with a birdie. Granted, the positive didn’t last long, with a bogey on 2 and double on 5.
The bogey on par-3 15 was a surprise, after making the fairway at the edge of the green. But a chip was a little strong and he was just off on a 14-footer for par.
Through two rounds, Henley has bogeyed the two par-5s twice with a double in four tries. He’s bogeyed three par 3s and two par 4s, but he’s tied for second with nine birdies.
As per the field, he’s above average in fairways hit, greens in regulation, and is first at 1.57 putts.
Henley tees off at 1:51 p.m. on Saturday, and is paired with veteran and LIV golfer Garcia, who missed the cut in the Masters in his other Tour event this year.