ORLANDO, Fla. — Russell Henley delivered a late cost that may have made Arnold Palmer proud, capped off by chipping in for eagle on the sixteenth gap to rally with a 2-under 70 at Bay Hill on Sunday for the largest victory of his profession.
Henley trailed Collin Morikawa by three pictures with 5 holes to play within the Arnold Palmer Invitational when all of it modified with a pair of two-shot swings.
Morikawa missed the inexperienced on the par-3 14th gap and took bogey, whereas Henley hit his tee shot to simply inside 10 toes for birdie, slicing the deficit to 1 shot. Nothing was extra beautiful than the par-5 sixteenth gap, nonetheless.
Morikawa laid up from a fairway bunker and hit wedge to 18 toes. Henley went by means of the inexperienced to thick tough and needed to chip from greater than 50 toes away down the slope to a entrance pin on a inexperienced that was yellow, wanting as if it barely had any grass.
It was racing towards the opening when it smacked into the pin and dropped for eagle, giving him the lead for the primary time all day when Morikawa did not convert his birdie putt.
Henley completed with two pars and Morikawa, who closed with a 72, could not catch him.
“I used to be simply so nervous. I am unable to breathe proper now,” Henley advised NBC off the 18th inexperienced. “It is so onerous and troublesome round this place. I simply tried to remain actually robust this week.”
He made it robust on himself at instances, significantly when he made a large number of each par 5s on the entrance 9 to take bogey on every of them, after which beginning the again 9 with a bogey from the golf green.
However the 35-year-old from Georgia made up for it in a giant approach, significantly the chip-in for eagle that he known as a very good break. It is possible the ball would have run some 10 toes by the opening, if not run off the inexperienced. Breaks like which can be what wins tournaments.
“This sport is simply so onerous,” he stated.
It was one other shut name for Morikawa, the two-time main champion whose sport is again so as and now could be lacking solely a trophy that he hasn’t hoisted in 17 months.
He started by holing a bunker shot for birdie on the primary gap. He was within the lead all day, in management all day, in what had been a sleepy remaining spherical on a brutal check of quick, agency situations.
After which instantly he wasn’t.
“Hats off to Collin. He performed tremendous regular,” Henley stated. “Generally golf is simply imply like that.”
Corey Conners opened with 15 straight pars, made one birdie in his spherical of 71, and completed two pictures behind. The comfort prize for the Canadian was incomes the one spot obtainable this week within the British Open this summer time at Royal Portrush.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley set a match report with a 29 on the entrance 9, solely to stall and match the tournament-low 64 to tie for fifth.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler did not make sufficient putts or sufficient birdies for the week. He closed with a 70 and tied for eleventh. Scheffler now heads two hours up the street to the TPC Sawgrass because the two-time defending champion at The Gamers Championship.
Henley completed at 11-under 277 and earned $4 million from the $20 million purse. It was his fifth profession win on the PGA Tour, although by no means in opposition to a area this robust. He was greater than as much as the duty as his sport has turn out to be persistently good over the past three years.
The victory strikes him to No. 7 on this planet, and he appears the a part of a top-10 participant.
