Russell Henley – Page 5 – Syndication Server

Two rounds into the U.S. Open, Torrey Pines has Matthew Wolff’s full attention but he still must catch a journeyman

How to handle the weekend at the U.S. Open? “Just hang in and grind,” says co-leader Russell Henley.

SAN DIEGO – Matthew Wolff toured venerable Winged Foot in 65 in the third round of the 2020 U.S. Open and shot 68 on Friday at Torrey Pines to climb into contention at the 121st U.S. Open. And yet even the 22-year-old said he felt drained after Round 2 with golf’s toughest examination.

“The way I describe the U.S. Open to everyone,” he said, “is there’s not one shot that you can finally like breathe and relax and feel like, oh, it’s all right if I miss this a little bit because every single shot, every single putt, it takes all your attention.”

Russell Henley, co-leader after 36 holes, can relate. He had played 17 bogey-free holes around the South Course on Friday before he took three putts at his last hole of the day, No. 9, missing a 2-foot par putt that would have given him the outright lead.

“Just hang in and grind,” said Henley of his game plan for the weekend. “That’s what you’ve got to do around here.”

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Instead, he settled for shooting 1-under 70 for a 36-hole aggregate of 5-under 139 and tied Englishman Richard Bland, a 48-year-old journeyman, who posted a second-round 67 and became the oldest 36-hole co-leader of the U.S. Open since World War II.

Henley and Bland have plenty of company behind them. Wolff, who hasn’t played since the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in late April as he has been dealing with mental health concerns, finds himself one stroke back of the lead and tied for third with Louis Oosthuizen (71). Count Wolff among those surprised that he’s in this position heading into the weekend.

“My confidence was shot,” he said. “I’d say I came here with very, very – I’d say no expectations. I’d say my expectations coming here were to enjoy it and be happy, and I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to do that. Thankfully I am, as well as playing well.”

Former Masters champion Bubba Watson (67) and World No. 3 Jon Rahm (70) are tied for fifth at 3-under 139.

San Diego native Xander Schauffele (71) is among a trio of players at 2-under 140. Scottie Scheffler headlines those at 1-under 141.

Among the host of major champions at even-par 142 are defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Brook Koepka and Collin Morikawa, who bounced back with 67.

Rory McIlroy backed up with a 2-over 73 but remained in striking distance heading into the weekend.

“Even though Richard Bland’s up there at 5 under (along with Henley), 1-over is right in it,” he said. “So, yeah, in for the weekend and still feel like I’ve got a really good chance.”

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (73) straddled the cutline during his round but fought back to make the cut and is at 2-over along with reigning PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson (69), who said he played much better on Friday.

“Even though I didn’t make a run today, I’m playing well enough to make a run,” Mickelson said.

It took 4-over 146 to survive the 36-hole cut. Jordan Spieth rallied to make it on the number with a 69. Edoardo Molinari backed up with a 76 on Friday, but survived the cut on the number and trails his brother, Francesco (76), by two strokes. They became the first brothers to make the cut at the U.S. Open since Joe and Jumbo Ozaki in 1993.

Neither Henley nor Bland, who will be paired in the final group on Saturday, have any experience contending in a major. When they exchange cards on the first tee, it likely will be the first time they’ve ever met.

“I know he won earlier this year. It might have been his first win on the European Tour,” Henley said of Bland. “Other than that, I don’t. I’m sure he knows nothing about me too.”

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U.S. Open: Russell Henley’s opener at Torrey Pines was 12 shots better than the last time he played here seven years ago

“I don’t really remember (much else) besides just leaving the course feeling like I just got beat up,” Russell Henley said of playing Torrey Pines seven years ago.

SAN DIEGO – Russell Henley hadn’t played Torrey Pines’ South Course since missing the cut at the PGA Tour’s 2014 Farmers Insurance Open. On that occasion, he holed a flop shot at 18…to shoot 79.

“I don’t really remember (much else) besides just leaving the course feeling like I just got beat up,” he said.

Perhaps Henley should have considered coming back sooner because in Thursday’s first round of the 121st U.S. Open, he carded six birdies en route to shooting a 4-under 67 and grabbing a one-stroke lead.

But despite the negative vibes at Torrey, Henley wasn’t surprised that he got his revenge in the opening round of the national championship.

“I feel like the last year I’ve been playing golf that I feel like I’m a top-50 player in the world,” said Henley, who entered the week ranked No. 63. “I’ve had a ton of top 10s. I’ve been in contention. I’ve been really consistent.”

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What he hasn’t done is contend in a major. Henley, 32, has never recorded a top-10 finish in 26 previous starts in majors. He’s always wielded a streaky putter, but ever since he began working with noted instructor Jim McLean, he’s become a better driver of the golf ball.

“He’s taught me a lot with my driver,” Henley said. “That’s kind of the main thing I wanted help with. He got me dialed into a better shaft and a better head, so hitting a TSi3 driver now instead of the 4, and it’s really just a couple little things and staying aggressive through the shot.”

Henley has notched three career victories, most recently at the 2017 Shell Houston Open. The best part of his game the last few years had been Strokes Gained: approach the green, ranking third last season and seventh this season.

Henley made a bogey on his first hole of the tournament before pouring in three front-nine birdies in a four-hole stretch beginning at the fifth. He tacked on three more birdies (Nos. 10, 15, 18) against one bogey (No. 12), including stuffing his approach to 3 feet at 15.

It added up to a 12-stroke improvement over Henley’s last trip around the South Course. But he knows doing it three more times likely will be quite a challenge.

“In terms of putting four rounds together at a U.S. Open, I’ve struggled with that,” said Henley, whose best finish in seven starts is T-12 as an amateur in 2010. “I feel confident in my game, and I feel like the firmer fairways is definitely helping me have some shorter clubs into these holes. Hopefully I can just keep it going.”

Whether he can do so may depend on the course conditions. Henley said he’s ready for whatever Torrey may throw at the field.

“I don’t know if it’s going to firm up and get baked out or stay receptive on the greens, but if it’s blowing like this the whole week, it’s just going to be a hard week,” he said. “That’s kind of what you want in a U.S. Open, though, right?”

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U.S. Open: No surprise Brooks Koepka gets into contention at Torrey Pines

Major maestro Brooks Koepka came to play at Torrey Pines. Is anyone surprised?

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Once the marine layer burned off along the coast of Southern California Thursday morning, it quickly became clear who one and all will need to deal with this week in the U.S. Open.

Major maestro Brooks Koepka.

Following a 90-minute delay to the start of the 121^st playing of the national championship on the seaside South Course at Torrey Pines in San Diego, Koepka didn’t take long to hit the front page of the leaderboard and stay there.

The four-time major champion and winner of the U.S. Open in 2017 at Erin Hills and 2018 at Shinnecock, who also finished runner-up in 2019 at Pebble Beach, made birdie on four of his first 11 holes to take sole possession of the early lead in calm conditions.

As winds freshened and the course hardened, Koepka dealt with a few missteps, hitting into a hazard on the cliffside par-3 third hole and missing the green on the par-4 seventh. But he saved bogey on each hole, added another tough up-and-down for par on the par-3 eighth and finished with a 2-under-par 69.

It was Koepka’s sixth consecutive round in the 60s in the U.S. Open.

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“You can’t win it today, but you can definitely lose it,” Koepka said. “It was nice to get off to a good start, putted well, drove it well on the back nine, my front, but missed a couple fairways there. I missed them on the correct side, which is what you’ve got to do, depending on where the pin location is and get lucky enough where you’ve got a decent lie and get it there.

“Pretty pleased. Not the best, but I’ll definitely take it.”

Russell Henley matched his career-low round in a U.S. Open to grab the clubhouse lead with a 67.

“I feel like the last year I’ve been playing golf that I feel like I’m a top-50 player in the world,” Henley said. “I’ve had a ton of top 10s. I’ve been in contention. I’ve been really consistent. The last couple tournaments I’ve played haven’t been quite as good, but the last year has been really consistent and really good. I feel like I’m just kind of still playing well.

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to definitely do that the next three days, but I definitely felt comfortable out there. I feel confident with my game. I don’t feel like it’s a huge surprise just because I do feel like I’ve played some good golf in some bigger events in the last year, but in terms of putting four rounds together at a U.S. Open, I’ve struggled with that. So, I’m just going to keep trying.”

Francesco Molinari, who won the 2018 Open Championship, has only played in four tournament in four months but got home with a 68. He was joined there by Rafa Cabrera Bello. World No. 6 and San Diego native Xander Schauffele, who has been no worse than a tie for sixth in his last four U.S. Opens, shot 69.

World No. 4 and 2020 PGA champion Collin Morikawa shot 75, world No. 2 Justin Thomas 73. Phil Mickelson, who won the PGA last month and is a U.S. Open victory shy of the career Grand Slam, shot 75.

As for Koepka, there were only a few reminders of his public and social media tussles with Bryson DeChambeau that have grabbed headlines for weeks now, as a few hecklers called him “Bryson” during the round. While he clearly heard the taunts, Koepka ignored them, put his head down and went back to work.

And delivered plenty of reminders of why he plays so well in major championships – four wins, three seconds and four other top-10s in his last 16 starts in the game’s four biggest events.

Power, precision and pure confidence as he walks the grounds likes he owns the place, whether it’s Torrey Pines, Shinnecock, Bellerive where he won the 2018 PGA or Bethpage Black where he won the 2019 PGA. Through 11 holes he was rarely in trouble and then mitigated damage when he needed to coming in.

Koepka, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year, has dealt with hip and neck problems and his surgically repaired right knee for much of the wrap-around season (he could not play in the 2020 U.S. Open last September). He missed the cut in last week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree in the Lowcountry of South Carolina but said his right knee felt as good as it has in a long time and he benefitted from the reps of playing under the gun against the best players in the world.

The world No. 10 also benefits every time he shows up at a major championship, his focus suddenly sharpening and his play usually improving.

“I’ve just got a good game plan, focused, I know what I’m doing, and I don’t try to do anything I can’t,” he said. “It’s just all about discipline in a U.S. Open. That’s, I guess, the gist of it. It’s pretty simple. It’s a lot simpler than what guys make it.

“I think a lot of guys make it more difficult than it needs to be. Just got to understand where the flag is, what you’re doing and where to miss it. Look, you’re going to make mistakes out here. You can’t make double bogeys. If you can limit those to just bogeys, you’re going to be all right.”

First-round play will likely spill into Friday. Among those who have just started play were world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, world No. 3 Jon Rahm, defending champion DeChambeau, Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, three-time major champion Jordan Spieth, two-time major victor Bubba Watson and major champions Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott.

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Russell Henley ties back-nine mark at Waste Management Phoenix Open

Russell Henley tied the back-nine scoring mark of 29 at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday in the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Russell Henley tied the back-nine scoring mark of 29 at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday in the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Henley started on the 10th hole at 9:27 a.m. local time alongside Webb Simpson and Hideki Matsuyama and quickly showed each of the former Phoenix Open champs just show things are done.

He made par on the 10th to start but birdied the 11th, eagled the 13th, birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to get to 29. Only five other golfers have broken 30 on the back nine on the Stadium Course: Phil Mickelson (2013), Rickie Fowler (2011), J.J. Henry (2006), Scott Verplank (1998) and Grant Waite (1996).

Waste Management Phoenix Open: Photos | Leaderboard | Tee times, TV info

Mickelson and Waite each shot 31 on their front nines to each shoot a 60, which is the course record. The low-nine mark at TPC Scottsdale is 28, set by Chris DiMarco on the front nine in 2003.

Henley didn’t make a run at 60 as he cooled off after making the turn to the front nine. He birdied the third but bogeyed the seventh and ninth to post a third-round 65.

Henley has three PGA Tour victories, the most recent came at the 2017 Shell Houston Open.

Saturday’s third round was full of early fireworks, with Louis Oosthuizen, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris and Justin Thomas all going low.

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Waste Management Phoenix Open odds, predictions and PGA Tour picks

We look at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale will look quite different this year with only 5,000 fans allowed on the grounds per day due to COVID-19 protocols. Still, a star-studded field is in attendance during the week of Super Bowl LV. Below, we look at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.

The field includes seven of the top-10 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, as Webb Simpson tries to defend his 2020 title. Dustin Johnson (No. 2) and Bryson DeChambeau (No. 5) are competing in the European Tour’s Saudi International.

2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting picks – Favorite

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 12:10 p.m. ET.

Hideki Matsuyama (+2200)

Matsuyama, who won here in 2016 and 2017, shares just the sixth-best odds this week. At No. 19, he’s the 12th-best golfer in the field by the measure of the Golfweek rankings. He finished just T-53 last week at the Farmers Insurance Open following a T-19 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Matsuyama struggled in all areas last week, but he’s averaging 1.51 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green through 29 measured rounds on the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. He has been undone by 0.47 strokes lost per round with the putter. A return to a venue where he has had considerable success on the greens presents a get-right spot.

Matsuyama leads those in the field with a minimum of five rounds played at TPC Scottsdale with 2.87 strokes gained on the field per round. He tied for 16th here last year with 1.93 SG: Tee-to-Green and 1.50 SG: Approach per round. He lost 0.21 strokes per round putting.

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2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting picks – Contender

Russell Henley (+6600)

Henley took last week off following a missed cut at the American Express in California. He previously tied for 11th at the Sony Open.

The 24th-ranked golfer in the Golfweek rankings played some of his best golf late last summer into the fall. Four of his six top-10 finishes in 2020 came between mid-August and late October. He’s 13th among all golfers with 1.69 SG: Tee-to-Green on the 2020-21 season.

The three-time PGA Tour winner missed the cut in four of the last seven runnings of this event, but he also has finishes of T-15 (2019) and T-16 (2017) mixed in. He has averaged 0.14 strokes gained on the field over 24 career rounds at TPC Scottsdale.

2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open betting picks – Long shot

Dylan Frittelli (+12500)

Frittelli is 96th in the Golfweek rankings following a T-53 finish last week. It was his first event of 2021 after he finished his 2020 schedule with a third-place finish in his home country’s South African Open three weeks after his surprise T-5 finish at the 2020 Masters.

He played this event for the first time last year and finished just T-63 with 1.81 strokes lost per round from tee-to-green and 1.34 strokes lost off-the-tee. He’s gaining strokes in both of those areas through 20 measured rounds (26 total) on the 2020-21 season.

His lone PGA Tour victory to date came at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. The courses grade similarly with an emphasis on driving accuracy.

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Russell Henley works his way to commanding lead in CJ Cup at Shadow Creek

Russell Henley leads the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek as he tries to win his fourth PGA Tour title and first since the 2017 Shell Houston Open.

NORTH LAS VEGAS – When the calendar hit September, Russell Henley started a five-week break away from the PGA Tour.

He wasn’t exactly on vacation.

“I practiced some, but I have a 2-year-old (Robert) and a 1-year-old (Ruth), so I try to give my wife, Teil, a break,” Henley said. “And they are a handful. It was work, it just wasn’t golf work.”

Henley got back to his day job last week and knocked some rust off and tied for 27th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. And on Saturday, with his game a bit tightened up and his putter lighting up the greens, he took the lead in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek as he tries to win his fourth PGA Tour title and first since the 2017 Shell Houston Open.

Henley, who began the third round four shots behind 36-hole leader Xander Schauffele, shot a bogey-free, 5-under-par 67 that included three consecutive birdies after making the turn. He is three clear of the field.

“Left myself in some good spots to make some birdies and had some really nice par saves and scrambled well,” Henley said. “Did a lot of good things. I’ve got to just keep my head down and play a good round for me. There’s so much golf to be played, this is just a break we’re taking and I’m just going to try to keep doing it.”

Lanto Griffin (66), Jason Kokrak (68), Talor Gooch (69) and Schauffele (74) were at 12 under. Schauffele had set the course record Friday with a 64.

“The putter saved me,” Griffin said. “I hit it all right there in the middle of the round, hit some good shots, but kind of the start and the end I struggled a little bit off the tee. But the irons feel good and the putter feels great. It was a fun day.”

It wasn’t a fun day for Schauffele, who just couldn’t get going. A day after making eight birdies, he made just two and made four bogeys.

“I was trying to figure out what was worse, whether the pace of play or my quality of golf,” Schauffele said. “It was kind of a tie. It was just a lot of bad breaks kind of. Not to be like a sour person, but just one of those days. Today was my bad day for the week, got it out of the way before Sunday, which is nice.”

Major champions Jason Day (66) and Justin Thomas (68) and first-round leader Tyrrell Hatton (73), who won last week’s BMW Championship on the European Tour, were at 10 under.

PGA champion Collin Morikawa (71) was at 9 under. Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (65) and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy (66) led a group at 8 under. McIlroy birdied six of his last nine holes.

Henley, 31, is ranked No. 121 in the world and his confidence has been shaken since his last victory. He admitted earlier this week he hadn’t been in contention for quite some time but he definitely hasn’t looked out of place playing with his name on the first page of the leaderboard from the outset.

During his recent break, Henley did start to work on his putting, once the strongest part of his game and it looks to be again this week. He incorporated some drills and the work is paying off. He had 27 putts the first round, 26 the second and 26 again in the third, which included 10 one-putt greens. He leads the tournament in strokes gained: putting.

“I definitely lost confidence,” Henley said of his putting. “I lost confidence in everything. I had my moments where I would keep my card, which was just so great. I remember at one point I was 160‑something on the FedEx a couple years ago and had a good week at John Deere. Just trying to keep grinding even when you don’t feel good about it, that’s really the key out here.

“I’m starting to feel better. I’m working with Ramon Bescansa on my putting and he’s really helped me. He’s kept it really simple with me, which is what I need. I just feel like some putts this week are going in. I’m thankful.”

Most memorable, bizarre rules controversies of 2019

When the new Rules of Golf were implemented on Jan. 1, 2019, it took player a while to adjust. Here are some of the memorable violations.

[jwplayer 6iN1p3CP-9JtFt04J]

The USGA announced major changes to the Rules of Golf which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

It didn’t take long for the new rules to create headlines.

Thirty-seven major clarifications are divided into eight different categories— ball at rest, ball in motion, taking relief, areas of the course, equipment, playing a ball, when to play during a round (including pace of play) and player behavior.

The specifics involving the new rules and their revised language compared to the previous rule can be read on the USGA’s website.

Over the year, we tracked the most surprising and controversial rules violations in all competitive levels of golf. Here are a few of the most memorable rules violations from 2019.

Be sure to vote for the most bizarre rules violation of the year at the end of the story.

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Deep thoughts with Brendon Todd, Harris English and Russell Henley

Todd, English and Henley – a trio of Georgia grads – have experienced the highs and lows of life on Tour and come out better for them.

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SEA ISLAND, Ga. – Sometimes, while conducting interviews at a PGA Tour event, I feel like I should bill these guys for serving as therapist. Other times, I feel like I should be paying them for the words of wisdom they dole out.

In 2013, at the Riviera Country Club chipping green, I asked Robert Allenby innocently enough, “How have you been?” and he poured his heart out about the troubles plaguing his life for the next hour as I lent a willing ear.

Less than an hour later, I stopped fellow Aussie Stuart Appleby to pick his brain and some of the big-picture, deep musings have stuck with me to this day. Appleby, as I wrote at the time, possessed the sort of wisdom that could only be obtained through experience. He said, “We measure ourselves by some place we think we should be. We should be making more money, or I should be winning again, or I should be keeping my card.”

Then, he said the line I’ve quoted countless times to others: “You know, you can ‘should’ all over yourself.”

I relay this story because three Georgia Bulldogs – Brendon Todd, Harris English and Russell Henley – dropped knowledge on me this week and their words deserve further exploration.

RSM Classic: Tee times | Odds | Fantasy

The depth of Todd’s despair (37 missed cuts in 41 starts between 2016-18) and his current heater have been well documented (twice, in fact). But when we chatted on the phone ahead of the Mayokoba Golf Classic, he said something that really stuck with me about what he planned to do differently this time.

“The most important thing for me is to enjoy the game and understand what type of game I play, what makes it tick, and appreciate that and enjoy it,” he said. “I got to the top 50 in the world (in 2014), and all I could think is, ‘Let’s get to the top 20. I’ve got to get another win. I’ve gotta get better.’ Everything was outcome based. I never took time to enjoy it.”

And now?

“I’m enjoying the preparation, I’m enjoying the competition and I’m accepting the game I have; I’m not trying to change it,” Todd said. “I just am enjoying the competition. I’ve won at every level in golf and I feel like I’m capable of winning multiples times on the PGA Tour. If I can keep it in front of me, keep it on the planet, I’m going to contend on the weeks when I putt well.”

Todd conceded he put too much pressure on himself to validate his first win, and he changed his swing to such an extent that he couldn’t go back to what wasn’t really all that broken in the first place. His ensuing crisis in confidence was like trying to find a spring in a desert. A mirage seemed to wait at every turn. Todd has a lot of scar tissue, but confidence can return as quickly as it can disappear, and he’s going to ride it as long as he can.

Brendon Todd celebrates on the 18th green after winning during the continuation of the final round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

English, who is four years younger than Todd, has experienced a sudden renaissance of his game as well. English ranked a career-worst 149^th in the FedEx Cup standings last season. But he’s strung together 28 straight rounds in the 60s and leads the PGA Tour in top-10 finishes this fall with four top-6 finishes, including fifth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

It’s mind-boggling to me that English hasn’t won since Mayakoba in 2013. At the time, only two golfers 25-and-under had multiple wins on Tour – Rory McIlroy and English. To what does he credit his sudden return to form?

“Just doing what I did back in college and my first couple years on Tour,” he said. “I know it sounds simple, or why would I steer away from that, but it’s just little things. This game can seem so simple but yet it’s still (complex) at the same time. But I’ve stuck with a game plan and a routine that I do every single day and it’s really helped me.”

English may have been guilty of getting on the merry-go-round of instructors. He’s settled down with Justin Parsons and together they had many long talks evaluating the difference in his game from when he was riding high. In trying to wrap his arms around what went wrong, English decided all he really needed to do was to go back to basics – “I don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” as he put it – and hitting greens in regulation to the tune of 79 percent (No. 8 on Tour, but No. 1 among players with more than 8 counting rounds), which was always his bread and butter. Sometimes the solution to all our problems is right in front of us.

Then there’s Henley, who was kind enough to accept my request to discuss his eight-stroke penalty for a golf-ball infraction at Mayakoba. About halfway through, Henley took the conversation in a very different direction when he said, “The Lord has used the game of golf in my life to show me who he is.”

Russell Henley of the United States walks on the ninth hole during the second round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

It was Sunday, but I wasn’t really expecting a religious sermon from Henley. Still, my ears perked up as he shed light on what he meant. As Henley tells it, a lot of his childhood dreams – winning on the PGA Tour, playing in the Masters, being in the top 50 in the world – were achieved at a young age. But here’s the rub: They didn’t fulfill him.

“They didn’t complete me in a way I thought they would,” Henley said.

There’s a lot to digest in those words, but essentially, Henley’s point was that his faith in religion has become his salvation.

“I can take situations like this and swallow them a little bit easier because my identity isn’t in my golf score,” he said. “It’s a gift I’ve been given to play this game. It’s tough to swallow (missing the cut), but it’s not going to crush me.”

What I learned from Todd, English and Henley, among other things, is these bulldogs still have their bark.

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Russell Henley speaks on golf ball gaffe that cost him eight strokes at Mayakoba

Russell Henley self-reported a penalty for using a different model golf ball that cost him eight penalty strokes and led to a missed cut.

Russell Henley was at the scoring tent after shooting a 2-under 69 during Saturday’s second round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic when his caddie tossed him two balls to sign for the standard bearer and walking scorer with his group. That’s when Henley first realized the innocent gaffe he had made.

“When I get done with a ball, my caddie will mark through it with a line so I don’t re-use them,” Henley said in a phone interview on Sunday. “He gave me two balls to sign and the Pro V1x part of it was facing up at me and I just looked at it and there’s a little dash beside the Pro V1x. I was like, ‘Hmm, that’s weird, is that what all my balls look like?’ I was caught off guard.”

The PGA Tour uses a one-ball rule as a condition of competition, which means players can only use one specific brand and model of ball during a round. The penalty for using a different model is two strokes per hole that the ball is used.

Henley, who said he uses the 2017 model of the Pro V1x ball, went to his bag and compared it to the other nine balls in there and noticed that one was not like the others. The rest didn’t have the dash. He’d never even hit the offending ball, which he said is a Titleist prototype. When asked how it got in his bag, Henley guessed that he may have picked the ball up by accident while putting to the same hole on the practice putting green as another Titleist ambassador.

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“I called PGA Tour rules official Brad Fabel over because something was wrong and I wanted to voice it,” he said. “I told them the scenario that I probably played it, but I don’t know. It looked scuffed up and it had a line through it, but I couldn’t tell you what number ball I used yesterday on No. 4,” Henley said. “I change balls every four or five holes, whenever I hit a wedge and there’s a scuff on it or something. I think I changed around No. 4, 9 or 10 and 14 or 15.”

Fabel brought in Slugger White, the PGA Tour’s vice president of rules and competitions, who phoned the USGA for clarification. It took the better part of an hour before Henley received the verdict.

“They told me that based on what we know and the high probability I used it, we’re going to take the average of the number of holes you typically used it, which is four,” Henley said.

He was assessed eight penalty strokes – two per hole for Nos. 9-12 – turning what had been a 69 into signing for a 6-over 77.

“Well, that sends me home,” Henley said at the time. Indeed, it did. He caught a 6:15 p.m. flight and arrived home after midnight.

“Do I think eight shots is extreme in this situation? Absolutely,” said Henley, who said he was still processing the unusual circumstances. “I think there should be a max of four. I hope eventually we can have some conversations and change the rule. I came from such an innocent place, you could call it a careless place, and given there was no intent I think it’s a pretty harsh rule. It can be debated both ways and I’m aware of that. It’s unfortunate when you’re playing well and in contention, like I was, to you’re missing the cut. It’s tough to swallow.”

But Henley said it won’t crush him because he’s learned not to let his golf score be his identity. His game has been trending in the right direction thanks to a putting tip from Brandt Snedeker after they played together at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

“I felt like I was gaining momentum with my game,” Henley said. “I felt really confident about my chances; I don’t know about winning but I proved to myself that I can go low on Sunday at the John Deere last year. I had two rounds to get it done and I felt good about my game.”

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[lawrence-related id=778012070,778011863,778011779]

Russell Henley assessed 8 penalty shots in oddball ruling at Mayakoba

Russell Henley had to add eight penalty shots to his score in Round 2 of the Mayakoba Classic when he found an unexpected ball in his bag.

The Rules of Golf continue to flummox players on every level.

During Saturday’s second round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic, Russell Henley became the latest player to face the consequences of a rules violation, and with some level of surprise. Henley was assessed eight penalty shots when he discovered a different model of golf ball in his bag than what he usually uses, and the rules committee and Henley assumed that he must have used that ball at some point during his round.

According to PGA Tour Communications, Henley was signing golf balls for fans when he noticed that one of the balls in his golf bag was a slightly different model than the kind of ball he uses. According to the statement, which was posted to Twitter, Henley didn’t know how that got in his bag. Henley self-reported his possible violation to the rules officials onsite.

Tour pros typically keep new, unused balls in one pocket in their bags, then place used balls into another pocket after they are taken out of play. Henley apparently found the different model of ball in his used-ball pocket, leading himself and the committee to assume he had unwittingly used it at some point during the round.

The PGA Tour uses a one-ball rule, which means players can only use one specific brand and model of ball during a round. The penalty for using a different model is two strokes per hole that the ball is used, maximum of eight strokes.

Mayakoba: Leaderboard | Photos | Tournament updates

This one-ball rule typically is used only in high levels of competition and does not apply to most everyday amateurs out for a round of golf. Recreational amateurs can carry as many brands or models as they like and use a different brand or model on every hole, if they choose. There are other rules about substituting a ball during the play of any given hole, such as when a ball is damaged, but recreational players are allowed to change models of ball on each tee before the start of any given hole.

And it’s not against the rules for a Tour player to carry a different brand or model of ball in their bag even when the one-ball rule is in effect. It’s only a penalty if they use that different ball.

That’s where the Henley situation got tricky, because it was an unusual circumstance and he didn’t know how the ball got in his bag. Like the balls he normally uses, it was a Titleist Pro V1x. But it was a slightly different model with one different marking on the ball. Henley told officials there was no doubt he unwittingly must have used the ball at some point in the round.

As per Rule 20-3, which relates to “situations not covered by the Rules,” the committee ruled that Henley must have used the improper ball during his round, and he was assessed a two-stroke penalty on Nos. 9-12. Those eight strokes – which meant he took a double bogey on all four holes – pushed him to a second-round 77.

In R2 ⁦@MayakobaGolf⁩ ⁦@russhenleygolf⁩ suffered a 2-stroke penalty on holes 9-12, 8 strokes in total, for breach of Rule 20-3. As Henley signed balls for fans he noticed one ball had a slight difference from the ball he uses. He didn’t know how it got in his bag. pic.twitter.com/H584JjkSVF

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) November 16, 2019

Henley had opened with 66. The penalty strokes dropped him more than 80 spots on the leaderboard, ultimately depositing him outside the cutline.

Prior to this week, Henley was 4-for-4 in cuts made in the 2020 PGA Tour season.

It’s another rules headline in a month that has been full of them. Most recently, two amateur women representing the U.S. at the Spirit International Amateur were disqualified for a four-ball scoring error. Days before that, much was made of penalties assessed at the LPGA Q-Series for a violation of the advice rule, covered by Rule 10-2a.

Also in the “bizarre” category, European Tour player Eddie Pepperell fired his entire ball supply into a pond beside the fourth green at last week’s Turkish Airlines Open, eventually walking off the course when he ran out of golf balls – which earned him a DQ anyway.

If there’s any bright side, it’s that Henley suffered penalty shots instead of an immediate disqualification.

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