The weather and a tight travel schedule kept Russell Henley off the course at Augusta National on Monday. Just 24 hours earlier, the idea that he would make it here was dubious. The year before? Unthinkable.
But the 94th and final qualifier for the Masters ran the table Sunday — coming from four down to win the Houston Open by three shots with a 10-birdie round — perhaps astounded even himself. Though winning a Masters is a primary item on his bucket list, Henley had all but conceded to himself Saturday night that for the second year running, he’d be on the outside looking in at the season’s first major championship.
“I didn’t … I wasn’t expecting to go back to Augusta,” he said after his victory in Houston. “I was planning on not going, but I was going to try my best to win. So, the fact I get to go back is pretty cool and I’m excited.”
Henley’s career arc was undeniable. An All-American at Georgia where he became the first player in the program’s history to win the Haskins Award in 2010 as college’s golf most outstanding player, he played on a championship Walker Cup team and also won a Nationwide Tour event, the Stadion Classic at UGA, only the second amateur to win on that circuit.
He hit the PGA Tour with a right cross, winning the first event he entered, the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii, to become the first rookie in 12 years to win his debut event. Then the music stopped.
“Some guys obviously just have quick starts and have never really looked back,” Henley said. “I struggled that year and then the start of ‘14 was awful. End of ‘13, start of ‘14 was off. Missed a lot of cuts. Played really bad. Somehow won the Honda (in 2015). The rest of that year, I can’t say I was really a confident golfer at that point. I knew I could play and was streaky. I wasn’t very consistent.”
Then last year, he missed seven of his first 10 cuts.
“With Russell, a lot of it for him is just being comfortable,” Chris Haack, UGA’s golf coach, said. “He is such a tenacious competitor and he was always searching for some small thing to make him better. But sometimes, he was over-compensating and making it harder on himself.”
Gradually, Henley began to dial back. He reduced his practice time, changed some equipment and by the time this season began last fall, he began to see results. In 11 events, he’s had seven top-25 finishes, match his total last year in 25 events. He currently ranks 13th in scoring (69.67).
“I feel like I’ve had a really consistent season so far,” he said. “I missed my first cut at the Frys after making equipment change to Titleist and just wasn’t really quite dialed in and comfortable with it yet. And as the fall went on, I got better and better with it and this year, I feel like I’m starting to get really comfortable with all the stuff and I feel like it’s improved my game a lot.”
Improved enough to contend this week? Henley’s Masters resume — missed cut in 2013, tied for 31st in 2014, 21st in 2015 — might not portend big things but try as he might, he couldn’t help thinking about Augusta midway through the back nine on Sunday. The same player who had lost his comfort zone couldn’t help but feel grateful.
“It’s cool,” Henley said. “It will be my fourth Masters. If I was in college and I was a senior in college and you said, ‘Hey, Russ, if you could say the next five years, you’re going the play golf on the PGA Tour and play in four Masters, would you take that? And you win three times (on Tour), would you take that in?’ I would say, ‘Sign me up.’
“I’m very thankful. It’s very tough to get in the Masters and it’s exciting.”
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