Epic eagle on 18 completes epic round for Henley in Tour Championship, now awaits word on the Presidents Cup
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By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
There was plenty of talk about the new East Lake course being so much different than the old one, of just last year.
Sunday, Russell Henley played it like his front yard. Not a problem.
The Stratford and Georgia grad electrified the crowd with perhaps the shot of the week during an epic final round of the FedEx Cup’s finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
Henley started the day tied for 13th. The payout for that spot, with no ties, was $975,000. The unforgettable round put Henley in position to take home a check of $6 million.
As it is, he finished tied for fourth with Xander Schauffele and Adam Scott at 19 under, Schauffele disappointing Henley and Scott wit three straight birdies, including a tough one on 18.
“My main goal every time I play is just to play well,” Henley told reporters. “I played well here, played treat today, good rounds, as good a rounds as I could ask for.”
Players in the tournament were given “starting strokes”, and winner Scottie Scheffler opened at 10 under, Henley at 2 under. Under a normal scoring system, Henley’s 267 puts him in fourth place, five shots behind Collin Morikawa, whose 262 was the best par score of the weekend.
Still, Henley’s account increased by $4.83 million, equal to 15 percent of his career winnings of $32 million.
And it substantially strengthened Henley’s chances to be picked on Tuesday for his first Presidents Cup. He entered the weekend ninth overall in the standings, and in third among the at-large candidates. His final two rounds – 13 under - on a “new” course may make it a rubber-stamp decision for captain Jim Furyk.
“I hope so,” he said when asked if the day was likely to draw Furyk’s attention. “Obviously (it’s) a dream of mine, (it’s) why I work so hard to make one of these teams.”
Henley’s 62 is a course record at the restored East Lake, which stood since Zach Johnson’s 60 in 2007, the course changing the standard after the substantial renovations. He needed only 21 putts on the eight-birdie, one-bogey round.
He was in sole possession of fourth at 19 under when he finished, several leaders still playing. Scott soon tied him, and then Schauffele.
Henley recorded his seventh top-10 finish this year, a career high. His last 62 came last November in the final round of the RSM Classic, in which Henley finished tied for third, nearly two months after a tie for 14th in the Tour Championship.
“I just kept making iron shots and making good mid-range puts,” he said. “Was a little off with the driver, but overall put it in the fairway a lot and was able to attack.
It was a dream scorecard on any weekend, but more so in the Tour Championship, and on a course that bore little resemblance to a year ago.
Henley opened with three pars, then birdied four of the next six holes for a 31 through nine.
“I had a good par save on 2, and had a really good up and down on one, just to keep the momentum going there,” Henley said. “Made a 20 or so footer on 4, which is a tough hole for me especially (since) it’s one of the longer one, straight uphill.”
“That was a really big birdie for me.”
For the second straight day, though, No. 10 got him. He went into the left rough, then to the right rough, and onto the left fringe. His 22-footer for par was a few feet off.
He showed a very short memory, with birdies on three of the next four holes – he drained a 32-footer off the green on 13 - a pair of pars, and then a birdie at 17.
“I hit a perfect drive. My second shot, I actually hit right at the pin and it came up much shorter than we anticipated and was on the fringe. Read it right and made it. You’re going to make making birdie a lot from the front of that green, so I was fortunate.”
The came The Shot.
No. 18, a par 5 on which Henley had birdie-birdie-par, didn’t start off well, his tee shot finding light rough just in front of water, a break that the shot didn’t roll in.
His second shot got a bounce that left him just outside the green but with a clean lie just behind a small bunker, a second problem spot Henley avoided on the hole. He chipped it low, and it was on line from the start, a stunning 36-yard eagle.
“It kind of happened fast there at the end,” he said.
He almost holed a 237-foot tee shot on No. 9.
How on-target was Henley? He earned those birdies, with shots from 32 feet, 24-5, 12-10, 10-2, and 9-6, with the three shortest from about four feet and less.
Henley’s longest par putt of the day was 5 and a half feet.
On Sunday, he finished first in the field in shots gained around the green and shots gained total, and putts per greens in regulation. He was tied for first in sand saves, third in shots gained approach to green, fourth in shots gained putting.