Russell Henley Wins the 2014 Honda Classic

Photo by @golfchannel

Rory McIlory fell just short of becoming our third out of four fantasy predictions winners this past weekend when, seemingly out of nohwere the infamous Bear Trap showed the rebounding star its teeth.  However, with six of our seven picks this week making the cut, our fantasy predictions gurus still managed to bring in a total tournament earnings of $786,575.

In all, the Golficity fantasy staff accurately predicted two 1^st place finishes (Walker and Day) and three runner-ups this month, for total February Fantasy earnings of $6.26 million dollars!  Even more importantly so far this year, we’ve successfully picked three winners out of nine tournaments, and total fantasy earnings for the 2014 season have exceeded $10 million, which averages more than $1 million per tournament.

Also of note this week was our purposeful exclusion Graeme McDowell – who was heavily favored by almost every fantasy website.  We opted instead to slot Sergio Garcia in that spot, which resulted in a Garcia T8 ($168,000) versus a McDowell T46 ($15,600).

Meanwhile at PGA National on Sunday, Russell Henley was the lone man standing at the end of a crowded 4-man playoff, which didn’t make it past the first sudden death hole.  The “Four R’s,” Ryan Palmer, Rory McIlroy, Russell Knox, and  Russell Henley all took a T1 (-8) into the 73^rd hole late Sunday evening  as the Florida began to set in the background.

With Palmer (-8) and Knox (-8) in the clubhouse waiting for Henley (-8) and McIlroy (-7) to finish their final hole, golf fans we’re ready to rule out Rory for the playoff, but McIlroy stuck his approach shot on the short par 5 about 10 feet from the pin for an eagle chance to win the tournament.  After missing the putt by an inch, the four men proceeded on to play the 18^th again, where Henley became the only one of the group to successfully reach the par 5 green in two.  After a handful of not-so-pretty chipping and putting attempts by the others, Henley eventually emerged as the hole’s lone survivor to earn his 2^nd PGA TOUR win.

Russell Henley wins the Honda Classic: Highlights

In the final round of the Honda Classic 2014, Russell Henley outlasted Rory McIlroy, Russell Knox and Ryan Palmer in a one-hole playoff to capture his second career victory. . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

With the win, the 24-year-old Henley moves up 126 spots to 16^th on the FedExCup leaderboard.  Rory McIlroy also jumped up 66 points to 38^th with his 2^nd place finish.

In other news, Tiger Woods decided to withdraw due to back spasms after going +5 through 13 holes in the final round of Sunday’s Honda Classic. Tiger noted that he is a “maybe” for the WGC at Trump Doral next week, where he’s scheduled to defend his title. Woods claims to be receiving treatment all week leading up to tournament start on Thursday. We’re most likely going to see Tiger there, but check back later this week for any news.

(Cover Photo Credit)