Shell Houston Open
Humble, Texas
Beginning the final round four strokes back, World No. 117 Russell Henley fired a day-low 7-under-par 33-32=65 to win the Shell Houston Open with a 72-hole total of 20-under 268, three clear of runner-up and overnight leader Sung Kang, who shot 72.
The University of Georgia alum, 10 days shy of his 28th birthday (Apr. 12th), celebrated early with a trophy presentation and a punched ticket to this coming week’s Masters.
He claims his third PGA TOUR title in 115 career events (113 pro), first since the 2014 Honda Classic 79 starts and 37 months ago. At the Honda, Henley erased a 2-shot deficit with 2-over 72, eventually prevailing in a 4-man playoff, and won his maiden title in his first pro start and first as a member at the 2013 Sony Open (as 54-hole co-leader) in a still-tournament-record 24-under 256 (63-63-67-63).
After opening in 67-67-69, the Macon, Georgia, native began in solo 3rd, four shy of Kang, who was the second- and third-round leader. Playing out of the final threesome with Kang and 18-hole pace-setter Rickie Fowler (who shot 70), he carded a career-best 10 birdies on eight (of 14) fairways and 16 greens in regulation, posting a sterling 1.375 putts per GIR and 2.896 SG: Putting, No. 1 for the week in both of the latter stats at 1.544 and 12.514, respectively.
The Kiawah Island, South Carolina, resident doubled the par-3 ninth, 3-putting from 27’6”, and walked off with bogey-5 (failed scramble), but circled Nos. 2, 4, 6-8, 10, 13-15 and 17, five from between 11 and 15 feet with a long of 36'2" at the par-3 14th. He recorded 10 1-putt greens in the finale and 27 putts total.
In five appearances at the SHO, this was Henley’s fourth straight top 10 and third consecutive top 5. He’s a perfect 5-for-5 at the Golf Club of Houston and now sports a 69.15 scoring average on the par-72 layout, buoyed by 13 straight sub-par rounds.
The victory comes in Henley’s 11th event of the season, is a seventh top 25 and third top 10, brushing aside a previous-best T9 at the Valspar Championship two starts ago.
This was the 20th stroke-play event of the season and Henley is the eighth player to not lead/co-lead after any round during the tournament proper, except after the final round that is; when it matters most.
Henley’s Position by Round:
R1: T6
R2: T2
R3: 3rd
With the win, Henley earns a 2-year exemption on TOUR, through the 2018-19 season, and invites to the 2017 PGA Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the 2018 SBS Tournament of Champions, and the aforementioned trip to Augusta National.
This will be his fourth Masters appearance, first since finishing 21st in 2015, and has progressively gotten better on each visit: (T31/2014; CUT/2013).
In the 80 prior editions of the Masters, five players have won the tournament prior to the Masters and gone on to win the Masters, Phil Mickelson being the most recent in 2006.
Henley, a pre-tourney 28/1 outright, banks 500 FedExCup (FEC) points for the victory and leaps 41 spots to 11th in the standings.
Top 10 in FEC standings (points):
1. Dustin Johnson (1,903)
2. Hideki Matsuyama (1,753)
3. Justin Thomas (1,751)
4. Jon Rahm (1,328)
5. Adam Hadwin (1,140)
6. Pat Perez (1,041)
7. Jordan Spieth (1,036)
8. Rickie Fowler (1,001); UP two
9. Brendan Steele (926); DOWN one
10. Marc Leishman (847); DOWN one
With a Strength of Field rating of 339 (down from 397 last year), Henley earns 50.00 world-ranking points and jumps 56 places to 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
Top 10 in OWGR (this week’s finishes):
1. Dustin Johnson (idle)
2. Rory McIlroy (idle)
3. Jason Day (idle)
4. Hideki Matsuyama (idle)
5. Henrik Stenson (CUT)
6. Jordan Spieth (CUT)
7. Justin Thomas (idle); UP one
8. Rickie Fowler (T3); UP one
9. Adam Scott (CUT); DOWN two
10. Alex Noren (idle)
Note: Jon Rahm bumps two to a career-best 12th.
15 of the Top 50 in OWGR were in the field; THREE finished in the top 10:
No. 9 Rickie Fowler (T3)
No. 14 Jon Rahm (T10)
No. 40 Daniel Berger (5th)
Avg. world ranking of the top-10 finishers: 186th
Other Notables:
No. 5 Henrik Stenson (CUT); top-ranked player, second straight MC on TOUR
No. 6 Jordan Spieth (CUT); pre-tourney odds fave, ends Consecutive Cuts Made streak at 18
No. 7 Adam Scott (CUT); ends Consecutive Cuts Made streak at 25 (was TOUR-leader)
No. 12 Patrick Reed (CUT); ends Consecutive Cuts Made streak at 20
No. 13 Justin Rose (T15)
No. 19 Phil Mickelson (T55)
No. 21 Matt Kuchar (CUT)
No. 24 Jimmy Walker (T71/MDF)
Season Trends:
Henley is the seventh straight winner to take at least one week off prior to the win.
13 of 21 winners this season were in their 20s, (Henley: age 27)
5 were in their 30s
3 were in their 40s
16 of the 20 winners (minus Match Play) emerged out of the FINAL group on Sunday, including Henley. The four outliers are:
Marc Leishman: Penultimate twosome: erased 3-shot deficit w/ 3-under 69; won API by 1.
Hideki Matsuyama: Penultimate threesome: erased 4-shot deficit w/ 5-under 66; won WMPO in playoff.
Jon Rahm: Fifth-to-last threesome: erased 3-shot deficit w/ 7-under 65; won Farmers by 3.
Brendan Steele: Third-to-last threesome: erased 4-shot deficit w/ 7-under 65; won Safeway by 1.
54-hole leaders/co-leaders are now 8-for-20 converting:
Converted: Hideki Matsuyama (WGC-HSBC), Mackenzie Hughes (The RSM Classic), Justin Thomas x2 (SBS TOC and Sony); Jordan Spieth (AT&T Pro-Am); Dustin Johnson (Genesis); Rickie Fowler (Honda); Adam Hadwin (Valspar).
Failed: Patton Kizzire (Safeway); Anirban Lahiri (CIMB); Luke List, Chris Kirk (Sanderson Farms); Lucas Glover (Shriners); Gary Woodland (OHL); Adam Hadwin (CBC); Patrick Rodgers, Brandt Snedeker (FIO); Byeong Hun An (WMPO); Justin Thomas (WGC-Mexico); Kevin Kisner, Charley Hoffman (API); Chris Stroud (PRO); Sung Kang (SHO).
This was the 70th edition of the Shell and 12th consecutive at the 7,441-yard par-72 (36-36) Golf Club of Houston.
Cumulative Scoring Average:
R1: 71.257; R2: 72.725; R3: 73.444*; R4: 70.271*
Total: 71.982
Round 3 was the highest scoring average of the season for Round 3s.
Round 4 was played with preferred lies.
Henley posted rounds of 67-67-69-65 for 19.698 SG: Total.
Henley’s Weekly Stats (ranking of 70 players):
Birdies: 27 (T1)
Bogeys: 5 (T4)
Doubles: 1 (T20)
Par-3 Scoring: 2.81 (T4)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.73 (1st)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.63 (T15)
Driving Distance (all drives): 282.0 yards (T29)
Driving Accuracy: 42/56 (T4) at 75.00 percent
Greens in Regulation: 57/72 (T4) at 79.17 percent
Proximity to hole: 36’4” (31st)
Putts per GIR: 1.544 (1st)
Total Putts: 108 (T2)
Putts by Round: 25-28-28-27
Scrambling: 9/15 (T43) at 60.00 percent
SG: Off-the-Tee: 4.286 (7th)
SG: Approach-the-Green: 2.346 (24th)
SG: Around-the-Green: 0.552 (26th)
SG: Tee-to-Green: 7.183 (9th)
SG: Putting: 12.514 (1st)
Draw:
A total of 81 players from a field of 144 made the 36-hole cut of even-par 144:
36 (of 70) EARLY/late; 1 WD; 1 DQ
45 (of 72) LATE/early
Secondary 54-hole cut: 3-over 219 (70 players)
11 players finished in the top 10. SEVEN were LATE/early, including the champ and the runner-up:
LATE/early: Russell Henley (Won); Sung Kang (2nd); Luke List (T3); Hudson Swafford (6th); Rafael Campos (7th); Zac Blair (T8); Kyle Stanley (T8)
EARLY/late: Rickie Fowler (T3); Daniel Berger (5th); Jon Rahm (T10); Andrew Loupe (T10)
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Rickie Fowler (64)
R2: Sung Kang (63); tied course record
R3: Luke List (65)
R4: Russell Henley (65)
Career Record as Leader/Co-Leaders (by round):
R1: Rickie Fowler; drops to 0-for-4
R2: Sung Kang; drops to 0-for-2
R3: Sung Kang; drops to 0-for-1
Runner-Up:
Sung Kang: The second- and third-round leader and World No. 202 conjured an even-par 36-36=72 in the final round to settle for solo 2nd on 17-under 271, three adrift of champion and playing competitor Henley.
The 29-year-old came up short of his maiden TOUR title in his 95th career start, but does post a career best. His previous best, and only other podium, was T3 at the now-defunct Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in 2011 – which came in the final event of his rookie season 74 starts ago.
The South Korean played the Web.com Tour for three seasons, (2013-15), earning his way back to the main stage last year, where he finished 96th in FEC points.
After opening in 65-63, he led by six, the largest 36-hole lead on TOUR this season, and after 71, still led by three (over Fowler), four clear of Henley.
Kang posted week lows in fairways and GIR, with eight and 11, respectively, exchanging two birdie-4s with two bogey-4s and playing his inward half in all pars.
This was just his seventh cash in 15 starts on the season, four for top 25s, and first top 10 (T12, Phoenix Open). Kang was making his third visit to the GC of Houston. He MC’d on debut in 2012 and finished 69th (of 71) last year.
Kang leapfrogs 98 places in OWGR to a career-high 104th, and jumps 79 spots to a career-best 28th in the FEC standings. He finished the week with one eagle and 21 birdies versus six bogeys.
First-timers and/or Rookies:
First-timers: 19
Top-10 finishes: 1
Jon Rahm: The World No. 14 posted his fourth straight top 10, fifth in his last six with T10 on 9-under 279. After opening in 71-72, he was T55, one inside the cut line, playing the weekend in 69-67. For the week, the 22-year-old, who’s a first-time member though not a rookie, circled 20 birdies against nine bogeys and one double and heads off to his Masters debut with a huge tailwind.
TOUR Rookies: 12
Top-10 finishes: 0
Mackenzie Hughes: The 26-year-old and World No. 115 was top rookie for the fourth time this season (15 starts) with T23 on 5-under 283 (72-70-73-68). He’s off to his Masters debut (from RSM win) and is the only TOUR rookie of this year’s class of 25 that can say that.
Other Notable Finishes:
Luke List: The World No. 169 finished in a two-way T3 on 16-under 272 (68-72-65-68). It’s his third top 10 of the season in 15 events and second podium in 77 career starts, joining a career-best T2 at the opposite-field Sanderson Farms back in October, where he was a 54-hole co-leader. The 32-year-old jumps 56 spots to a career-best 113th in OWGR.
Rickie Fowler: The first-round leader and World No. 9 battled to a four-day total of 16-under 272, down one spot in the final frame, four back of champ and playing competitor Henley.
After the 36-hole cut was made, the 28-year-old was the top-ranked player left for the weekend. He was the 18-hole pace-setter (by one) with 64, dropped to solo 4th with 71, and began the finale in solo 2nd, three shy of Kang.
The Oklahoma State product’s 67 in R3, ended with a bogey- double-bogey finish, and he opened Sunday with another double bogey-6 at the second and bogey-6 at four, 6-over for his last eight holes.
He finally righted the ship, playing his final 14 in blemish-free 5-under, but the damage was already done, finishing with a disappointing -1.433 SG: Putting and 33 putts total. Fowler was T1 for the week in birdies with 27, and T4 in bogeys (5), but ate three doubles, which was 68th (of 70). It’s his fourth top 10 of the season (seven starts) and fifth straight top 20, highlighted by his fourth TOUR title at the Honda.
Daniel Berger: Five days shy of his 24th birthday (Apr. 7th), the World No. 40 finished in solo 5th on 13-under 275, seven in arrears after a closing 67. This was his third SHO, third top 25, and second straight top 5. He went for T5 last year, where he was T19 thru 54 holes, closing in 66.
The Florida native and resident chased that with T10 in his debut at the Masters and was the only player at last year’s edition to post a top 10 in their Augusta National debut.
After opening in 70-67-71, he began this year’s final frame T5 on 8-under, nine back of overnight leader Kang. Playing out of the penultimate threesome, the FSU product was bogey-free 7-under thru 17 holes, but walked off with double bogey-6, 3-putting from 46'5", though it didn’t affect his final position on the leaderboard.
Consecutive top 10s on TOUR:
Dustin Johnson (1st-1st-1st-3rd)
Jon Rahm (T10-2nd-T3-T5)
Adam Hadwin (6th-1st)
Hudson Swafford (6th-T10)
Rafael Campos (7th-T10)
Note: Non-member and World No. 636 Campos, who got in off a T10 at the Puerto Rico Open, earns another top-10 exemption into the RBC Heritage in two weeks with a career-best solo 7th on 11-under 277 (69-71-68-69). He catapults 308 places to a career-high 393rd in OWGR.
Up Next:
The TOUR heads to Augusta National for the season’s first major, the 81st Masters Tournament, where Danny Willett is the defending champion. He erased a 3-shot deficit in the final round with bogey-free 5-under 67 to beat 18- 36- and 54-hole leader Jordan Spieth, and fellow Englishman Lee Westwood by three.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR readies for its 22nd tournament of the season (of 47).
