UGA star Henley matches first-round scoring record to lead Tour Championship

Russell Henley found a way to stop Scottie Scheffler. At least for a day.

It did require him to birdie the final three holes. And it did require him to post a tournament-record-tying first-round score. And it did require him to make 207 feet and 7 inches worth of putts. But the University of Georgia graduate showed it is possible to stay ahead of the best player in the world, even if it is only through one round.

The Macon native and current Columbus resident shot a 9-under 61 on Thursday, matching the lowest first-round score since the tournament has been hosted at East Lake Golf Club. Henley was steady — shooting 31 on the front and 30 on the back — with seven birdies and an eagle.

“I just felt a little more clear in my mind on what I thought the ball was going to do and just felt at peace if I missed it,” Henley said. “Just kind of free-wheeled it a little bit.”

But he’s still only two shots ahead of Scheffler, who birdied three of the last four holes — including the 18th just seconds before a horn was sounded to signify an impending storm. “Hurricane” Scheffler shot 63 — two strokes better than his previous best at East Lake.

The mass of humanity tied for third at 6-under 64 includes Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood.

The second round will start earlier than scheduled on Friday because of a dicey weather forecast. The first groups will begin at 8 a.m., more than two hours sooner than scheduled.

Henley shot 31-30 and fell one shot short of matching the 60 that Zach Johnson shot in the third round of the 2007 tournament, when the greens were as receptive as pudding. Henley matched the tournament record for the best first-round score set by Morikawa in 2023.

Henley has had his best year on the PGA Tour. He won for the fifth time, taking the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, and tied for 10th at the U.S. Open and Open Championship. He is ranked No. 4 in the world and was seventh in the final FedEx Cup standings. And he played well enough over the last two seasons to earn an automatic spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

The two-time Georgia Amateur champion closed strong. He made a 35-foot no-brainer for birdie at 17 and got up-and-down from the greenside bunker for birdie on 18.

“Last week I felt like I played really well and didn’t give myself a bunch of looks because I couldn’t figure out how far the ball was going and struggled a bit on the looks of those greens, getting the reads down.”

Scheffler had another steady round of fairways and greens and shot 32-31. His only hiccup came at 16, where he missed the fairway and had to go under a tree with his approach shot to a collection area. He was able to get up and down to save par with a 26-footer and keep his round on track.