Shooting 8-under 63 at El Camaleon Golf Course is impressive, but to back it up and do it two days in a row that qualifies as golfing your ball.
Add in the fact that Russell Henley is the only player in the field that is bogey-free through 36 holes and well, let’s just say Henley is in the zone as he improved to 16-under 126 to lead by three strokes over Will Gordon and Sam Ryder at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
“I felt great the last two days,” Henley said. “Mentally felt confident and believing in what I was doing. Hit a lot of fairways and had some nice par saves today that kept my round going. Obviously very happy with where I am.”
As he should. Henley, who last won in 2017, made birdie on three of his final four holes to pull ahead. Henley going low early is nothing knew for him. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, of the seven opening 36-hole scores of 126 or better on Tour, Henley has recorded three of them.
“He’s a guy when he gets going he’s not scared to keep the pedal down and that’s what he’s doing this week,” said Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio’s John Rollins.
Henley has hit 24 of 28 fairways on a course that demands accuracy off the tee and he’s taken advantage of preferred lies being implemented after more than an inch of rain on Wednesday.
“Just being in a good head space for those tee shots is a good start,” Henley said. “Things were going my way.”
That’s putting it mildly for the 33-year-old Henley who is bidding for his fourth PGA Tour title.