Russell

Henley

The Georgia Bulldog split 12-of-14 fairways to take advantage of preferred lies. From there, he smothered 13 greens in regulation, gaining 2.6 strokes on approach along the way. “The front nine it was raining and felt like, man, this could be a tough day, especially if it picks up a little bit. So just kind of hoping it would slow down a little bit. And it did on the back nine, so we were fortunate. Just hit a lot of fairways and felt like from there I could attack the golf course.” This will be his eighth time posting a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA Tour. He’s gone on to finish T26 or better in all of those event but none of them doubled as wins.

The Georga Bulldog opened his round with a pair of birdies in his first three holes but slowed his pace from there. He missed just one fairway today and landed 14 greens in regulation, while also gaining a pair of strokes putting. It was a strong closing round that was three shots better than the field but he likely felt he left strokes out there, settling for nine straight pars to end the week. On the bright side, Henley collected a T4 finish on the final leaderboard which is his first top-10 finish in a major championship (33rd career major start).

Henley burst onto the scene with a win in his 2013 Sony Open debut, just the third start of his PGA TOUR career. He’s returned nine times since then, landing four other top 20s including last year’s runner-up finish. When asked why it fits his game he responded, “I think it puts a premium on ball control. I think it puts a premium on hitting the fairway, hitting good approach shots, making good decisions, good course management. I think it puts a premium on that. I think that’s more my game when I’m playing well.” Henley opened the week as a 21/1 outright betting option, sixth on the odds sheet.

It’s never easy to finish off a PGA TOUR win but this was about as stress-free as they come. Henley opened the day with a six-shot lead which allowed him a lot of freedom. He swallowed his first two bogeys of the week but added three birdies to reach 25 circles on the week (T1 in the field). “I don’t sleep well on a lead. I need a lot more practice. I have no idea how Tiger did this 80-some times. It’s tough for me just to kind of calm down. You definitely don’t feel the same as when you’re practicing at home, but that’s the fun of it, that’s why we play.” Henley is now 2-for-7 when holding a 54-hole lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR. This will go in the books as his fourth career PGA TOUR title but first since the 2017 Honda Classic. Steady striking was the recipe for Henley this week as he piped 44 of 56 fairways on the week.

Henley started the third round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba with a five-shot advantage, and he kept his foot on the gas en route to a 6-under 65 that added one shot to that lead as he is now six clear of Will Gordon and Patton Kizzire. Henley has been unstoppable all week, as he was the only bogey-free player through 36 holes and still has not dropped a shot through 54 holes. At 22 under, his is the 18th 54-hole score of 191 or better in PGA Tour history. All 17 prior instances have ended in victory. Henley has three prior victories on Tour but none since the 2017 Houston Open. With a number of close calls since, including a playoff loss earlier this year at the Sony Open, he appears poised to end his victory drought despite the fact that he is just 1-of-6 in closing out a 54-hole lead.

Henley is no stranger to low scores, as he shot three straight rounds of 63 en route to his maiden PGA Tour victory back at the 2013 Sony Open. He’s at it again outside Cancun, where Friday he carded eight birdies for the second straight day. Henley has yet to drop a shot through 36 holes at El Camaleon, the only player still bogey-free, and at 16 under he holds a three-shot lead over Will Gordon and Sam Ryder after setting a new tournament 36-hole scoring record. Henley has three prior wins, but none since the 2017 Houston Open. This is his first start since a T-45 finish at the CJ Cup, and it will be his eighth career 36-hole lead. Of the prior seven, only the ’13 Sony ended in victory.

The Georgia Bulldog put on a clinic today with 12-of-14 fairways hit to take full advantage of preferred lies. From there he smothered 14 greens which he parlayed into eight birdies without dropping a single shot along the way. “I haven’t played as much golf the last couple months as I normally do, and the last few tournaments I’ve played I’ve been a little off. Just felt really comfortable out there today with my driver, which is big out here for me, a lot of intimidating looking shots. And rolled some putts in, too. So it was just a nice clean round.” Henley has never really thrived at El Camaleon (2-for-4 with a T29 as his most notable finish) but he’s looking to change that with a few more good rounds this week.

Henley sits at 55th in the OWGR after making a run to the BMW Championship last season. He ended the season with 10 top 25s in 22 events played. He’ll look to maintain that level of consistency as he readies for his first start of the new season. He’s finished T14 (2017) and T54 (2020) in two previous tries at the event. Henley opens the week as fourth on the outright odds board.

Henley made two birdies in the 11 holes he played Saturday, and at 10 under he sits in a tie for fifth and two shots off the pace heading into a lengthy finale Sunday. The former Georgia product is looking to follow in the footsteps of J.T. Poston, who won the 2019 Wyndham without making a bogey all week - the last instance of a player winning on Tour while going bogey-free.

Henley entered the week ranked No. 54 in the world, buoyed by a T-10 finish last week in Detroit, and he has built up on that momentum in Greensboro. Henley rolled in a 15-foot par putt on No. 11 to preserve his bogey-free status just before the horn blew to suspend play for the day. He’ll return with 25 holes to go as he looks for win No. 4 on Tour and his first since the 2017 Houston Open.

Henley sits at T7 in fairways hit (21-of-28) and T33 in GIR (29). It’s been that steady striking that has allowed him to stay bogey-free through two days of play at Sedgefield Country Club. His putter has been spotty but did flash with a pair of birdie bombs from outside of 20 feet today. “I feel great about my ball-striking, but this course, a lot of times I’ve felt comfortable. I’ve felt like I can hit the fairway and I can attack the pins and I know where to miss it. Yeah, and also being bermudagrass, I’m kind of used to that, so it’s a combination of those things.” This isn’t his first taste of success at the Donald Ross design as he led wire-to-wire at last year’s Wyndham before fading to T7 on Sunday.