As expected, Maconite and Stratford grad Russell Henley - ‘I’m just a grinder’ - picked for U.S. Presidents Cup team
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By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Russell Henley’s not flashy or dramatic, one of the PGA Tour’s more under-the-radar players who doesn’t talk in paragraphs when he does meet with the media.
So much so, social media poked some fun at him over the weekend.
“Russell Henley is living the dream. Just pocketed $4.8 million and can walk through any airport completely unbothered” offered one post on X/Twitter. And “I was explaining to the roommate how nobody recognizes Russell Henley but he is great at golf and has lots of money. She interrupts and says they don’t recognize Scottie either, they arrested him! She got me!”
But Henley drew plenty of attention with a marvelous 36-yard eagle putt on No. 18 on Sunday to end the tournament, which turned focus then to the Presidents Cup team’s captain’s picks to come two days later, Henley certainly making a statement with his course-record Sunday of 62.
Statement made indeed.
Henley’s name was the second one given in by captain Jim Fuyrk on The Golf Channel a few minutes after 2 on Tuesday as a member of the United States’ Presidents Cup team.
“Way to stamp an exclamation point on the season and kinda go out on a high note,” Furyk said on the announcement show. “Russ, he’s just solid. He’s been really solid over the last two years, hits the ball very accurately, a good putter.
“Just a grinder, a tough guy that’s never going to give up. I think his game fits Royal Montreal to a T. I think he’s going to be a huge asset.”
Henley is joined by Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, and Max Homa as the captain’s picks.
Soon, the grinder was on the show to talk about the day.
“It’s really amazing,” Henley said. “It’s hard to explain. I feel like I’ve watched a lot of these shows before, these guys get picked, (I’ve) never been on one of these teams.”
As per his reputation, he just kept working.
“To finally get the nod from Captain Jim – I think that’s what I’ll call him, I’m not sure – was just amazing,” Henley said. “I’ve looked up to him so much. I’ve called him over the years, asked him questions, just how he manages his game. I’ve always admired the way he handled himself on the golf course.
“To play for him now is just a dream come true.”
The team has a Georgia flavor, with UGA grads Henley and Brian Harman, who is from Savannah.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and newcomer Sahith Theegala qualified for the Americans, and were named on Aug. 25, after the BMW Championship.
They qualified after having the top point totals based on FedExCup points from Jan. 1 through Aug. 25, and are weighted with results from 2023 The Sentry through BMW, 2023 Fortinet through RSM, and 2024 Sentry through BMW, as well as finishes in The Players and the majors, signature events, playoffs, and all other events.
Henley’s sterling performance in The Tour Championship over the weekend didn’t change his place in the standings. He finished ninth in the Presidents Cup standings, and third-best among the at-large candidates following the six automatic picks, with 4,030 points.
That’s just behind Burns (4,269) and Finau (4,214) and ahead of Bradley (4,002) and Harman (3,887). Furyk went in order of the next six after the automatic qualifiers.
“All these guys work so hard,” Henley said. “You just work and hope you’re gonna get that phone call. It’s really still surreal.”
In 2022, the automatic qualifiers were Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Schauffele, Burns, Justin Thomas, and Finau. No. 7 Will Zalatoris was unavailable because of a back injury, Nos. 13 and 14 Tom Hoge and J.T. Poston were overlooked for Nos. 8-12 and No. 15 (Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Cameron Young, and Kevin Kisner).
Henley moved up to fourth in the overall FedEx rankings, yet dropped a spot to No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking. That’s an average of 9.5, better than all of the captain’s picks in 2022. Kisner was 15th in FedEx and 25th in OWGR.
Henley is low on the list of self-marketers or talkative tour players, and unsurprisingly didn’t spend a lot of time in his short media visit on Sunday talking about the team.
He wasn’t going to spend Sunday or Monday night pacing or tossing and turning.
“Not really,” he said after Sunday’s round. “I mean, obviously my main goal every time I play is just to play well. I played well here, played great today, as good a round as I could ask for, so I'm not too stressed about it."
But he did offer a little sales on what he’d bring to the team.
"Just the fight,” he said. “I definitely feel like athletically I don't have what a lot of these guys have in terms of distance and stuff. I always feel like I've been a grinder and a fighter, and I think I could definitely do that for the team."
And he addressed on Tuesday that low-key, even-keeled, under-the-radar reputation.
“I don’t really know what it’s like to get any more attention,” he said. “I only know what I’m used to. I definitely think there are personalities out there that are maybe more attractive to the average fan.
“I’ve really been humbled by this game a little bit over the last 11 years. Guys are just stronger, I feel like they’re more confident, they have more of a plan. My kind of thing is just to keep my head down and keep trying to work hard on what I can control. I’m very competitive, but maybe not as flashy as some guys and as enjoyable to watch.”
Henley has played in 19 tour events this year, made 18 cuts, and finished in the top 25 11 times.
In addition to tying for fourth in Atlanta after shooting 67 and 62 in the final two rounds, Henley tied for seventh in the U.S. Open and took fifth in the British Open, by far his best performance there. Only three times has he finished 30th or worse (tied for 30th, 38th, and 48th), and never was outside the top 50.
Last year, he missed six cuts in 25 tries, and was 30th or worse five times, including tied for 53rd at the Arnold Palmer.
It was a fairly inconsistent year that ended strong, Henley finishing inside the top 13 in the final six tournaments, which included two events after the Tour Championship.
“Russell has been one of the most consistent players on the PGA TOUR these last two years, and I can’t wait to have him in Montreal with the U.S. Team next month,” Furyk said in a statement on PGAtour.com. “He is unflappable under pressure and without doubt one of the best putters in our game, which is a fantastic combination for match play success.”
The Presidents Cup started in 1994 and is played every two years, but it skipped 2021 – as did the Ryder Cup - because of COVID-19.
The tournament is Sept. 26-29 at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, Canada.
The U.S. is competing against an international team that uses a different selection format. The international team’s automatic selections: Japan's Hideki Matsuyama; Tom Kim of South Korea, Sungjae Im of South Korea, Jason Day of Australia, Adam Scott of Australia and Byeong Hun An of South Korea.
The captain’s picks, also made Tuesday: Christian Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, and Taylor Pendrith.
The format: three days of team matches, with alternate shots in foursome and better ball/four-ball, with singles on Sunday. It’s a different specific format within those parameters each of the three days.
As per PGAtour.com: “Foursomes, or alternate shot, consists of a two-man team playing one ball. Teammates alternate hitting shots until the ball is holed, and the team with the lowest score on the hole wins. In four-ball, both members of the team play their own ball. The lowest score between the team’s two members counts as the team’s score for the hole.”
The United States has won 12 of the 14 Cups. Henley will offer what he can to add to that record.
“I’ve tried to kind of hone how I play the game and what I do better and better,” he said. “I think that’s why I’m here. I’m just a grinder. I’m trying to fight for every shot, and try to compete as hard as I can no matter the situation.”