AUGUSTA — If Russell Henley can ever put together his best front and back Sunday nines out here, he’s going to find himself in contention at the Masters.
One of six Georgia Bulldogs playing in the 86th Masters, Henley turned in the lowest front nine of his career here with a 5-under-par 31 on Sunday. Unfortunately for the Macon native and Columbus resident, he matched that with an inward 39. His final-round 70 left Henley at 5-over 293 and in a tie for 30th place.
“I even missed a makeable putt on 1, misread it a little bit,” said Henley, whose best finish here was a tie for 11th in 2017. “But I felt really good about everything. I struggled with my drive and had some trouble with driver and a couple of things. Today, I felt a little sharper and the weather was better and the conditions were better, so I felt pretty good.”
Henley’s front-nine 31 stood as Sunday’s best until Min Woo Lee came through later in the day. He birdied the last four before the turn to shoot 30, then promptly bogeyed the first four on the back on the way to an inward 40.
When Henley last played in the Masters in 2018, he carded a back-nine 32. So, he has proven his game can handle both sides of the Augusta National property. Putting such nines together in the same round – never mind four rounds – has proven fleeting for the 11-year pro, who was playing in his sixth Masters.
Unfortunately for Henley, his bogey-less streak ended on the first hole of the back nine. After a perfect drive on No. 10, the wind gusted on his 7-iron approach and took him 10 paces past and directly over the pin. His 30-foot downhill putt barely missed right but went long and Henley lipped out the comebacker to card a 5.
“I was really close on the back,” Henley said. “Lipped out my putt on 10, had a funky one coming back. Never had that putt before. Disappointing. On 13, I was about a yard from being tap-in for eagle. Instead, I’m on top and I can’t get it close. Just kind of some momentum killers there, but I feel really good about my game.”
He should. Thirtieth place at the 2022 Masters paid $102,000.
Just getting into the field is, of course, the greatest challenge. A strong spring saw Henley climb into the top 50 of the world rankings and earn his first invitation in four years. A three-time PGA Tour winner, Henley has made every cut so far in the 2021-22 PGA Tour season, which has included four top-15 finishes, a runner-up in Hawaii and a T-13 at The Players Championship.
Uneven play on his Friday front nine put Henley in jeopardy of a third missed cut at Augusta National. But after scoring a pair of double bogeys and a pair of birdies in his first four holes and going out in 3 over, Henley’s game steadied. He played the back in 1 under to slip below the cut line by two strokes.
The back nine got Henley on Saturday as well. He shot 39 then, too. He was only 1 under on back-nine par-5s for the week and 2 over on 18 with another bogey from the middle of fairway on Sunday.
There remains work to do, tweaks to make.
“It’s hard,” Henley said of contending in majors. “Everybody is just so good at golf these days. Just competing with these guys is very hard on the Tour. I’ve tried to work consistently on every part of my game to put me in position to get back here and compete.”
There are no side bets among the Georgia contingent. If there were, then Henley, Hudson Swafford and Sepp Straka would have needed a playoff to see who picks up the pot. The trio tied for “Low Dawg” in 30th place. Swafford and Henley were UGA teammates on the 2008-11 squads.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson shot 71 to finish 39th. After getting to 2 over, Kevin Kisner played his last 13 holes in 7 over to come in tied for 44th. Brian Harman was the only one of the Bulldogs to miss the cut.
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