Rookie Russell Henley Wins Sony Open, Breaks Records along the Way

Russell Henley courtesy of @pga_tour

Imagine playing in your first PGA TOUR event, pretty exciting right?  Now imagine that not only do you win the tournament, but you earn a million dollars, 500 FedEx Cup points, a 2 year TOUR exemption and an invitation to the 2013 Masters. Now you know how Russell Henley must feel this morning.  For the icing lets add a few records to the mix.  First, Henley 24-under is the lowest 72-hole score ever recorded by a PGA TOUR rookie, and second, although Henley made two starts on the PGA TOUR as an amateur, he became the first player in 12 years to win in his debut as a TOUR rookie member.

Henley led the pack most of the way, not letting rookie nerves get the best of him.  With a couple of 63’s on the card, the rookie finished strong on Sunday with 5 straight birdies, concluding with one massive fist pump on the final hole that put a punctuation mark on his four day outstanding performance.  “I’m pretty speechless,” Henley said. “I was trying not to think about Augusta out there because I just kept telling myself, `This is a long year, you’re going to play this game a long time, and be patient, it doesn’t have to happen now.’  Everything I could to psyche myself out of thinking about winning.  It worked.”

As we highlighted in our tournament preview, Tim Clark showed up to play at Waialae.  The veteran carded a 63 in his final round to finish in solo 2^nd (-21).   When asked about Henley’s performance on Sunday, Clark responded, “he just never seemed to put a foot wrong, and when he did, he made those par putts. That’s when you know a guy is comfortable, when he’s making those 8- to 10-footer for par. But I still got on the 15th hole and said, `Well, let’s finish with four birdies and see what happens.’  And sure enough, he birdied the last four, too.  When a guy plays that well and beats you, you just have to be happy for them.”

The win rocketed Henley to a position in the top 50 in World Golf Rankings and a chance to don the Green Jacket at Augusta.  If the money and Augusta invite wasn’t enough, the win will most likely get him invited to the Accenture-Match Play Championship, which limited to the top 64 world-ranked golfers, with the qualifying date only a month away, and he should be set for the other WGC at the Cadillac Championship.  The win also qualifies him for the Bridgestone Invitational in August, along with the PGA Championship.  It sure looks like Henley has set himself up nicely for his rookie season, and we’re certainly excited to see how it plays out.

(Cover Photo Credit)