Can Henley improve on majors slump at humbling Oakmont?
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The 2025 season has not been a good one for Russell Henley when it comes to the majors.
About a month after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his first tour trophy in three years, Henley roughed up Augusta with a first-round 79 en route to missing the Masters cut.
Almost a month after tying for eighth in the RBC Heritage, Henley turned in his worst consecutive rounds of the year and missed the cut at the PGA Championship.
In his two tournaments directly preceding the Masters and PGA, Henley finished tied for 30th and tied for 46th.
Not exactly storming into the big events with momentum, huh?
Up next is the U.S. Open, at frisky Oakmont Country Club northeast of Pittsburgh on the banks of the Allegheny River.
Henley, ranked seventh and sixth in the two major rankings, tees off Thursday at 1:03 p.m. with Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nick Taylor
Henleyâs visits to the U.S. Open have been all over the place, from missing cuts in 2013, 2015, and 2022, and two finishes outside the top 40, to three finishes in the top 14 in the last four trips, with that cut in 2022 in there.
He tied for seventh last year at Pinehurst No. 2, closing with a 67 after two 70s and a 72.
Henley wasnât in the field the last time the Open was at Oakmont, in 2016 when Dustin Johnsonâs 4-over gave him the win by three shots.
So scouting reports on how heâll do are a little tentative â most have him ranked in the 15-25 range - but it appears his strengths fit fairly well with Oakmont.
âHenley is built for Oakmont and will always be a model darling when looking at approach play,â wrote Golf Digest. âHis iron play is elite. No matter how you sort it, heâs going to be around the top 10 in most metrics that measure second shots. Heâs got a win this year and has a few nice finishes in majors so far in his career.
âItâs been an inconsistent past few months with missed cuts at the Masters and PGA Championship, but Iâm fine buying low on his skill set. Oakmont rewards players who hit greens, and Henleyâs GIR percentage ranks sixth in the field over the past six months. Maybe not a threat to get his second win of the year here, but Henley is certainly a nice dark horse to compete and bolster your U.S. Open picks.â
Despite his top 10 ranking, Henley is somewhat back to the âunder the radarâ level: a contender, but not necessarily a favorite. He has dropped to 46th on the tour in putting nad is 1534d in puts from 15-20 feet and 139th in puts inside 10 feet, but is in the top 15 in greens in regulation, shots gained total and around the green, driving accuracy percentage, and putting from 20-25 feet.
Also at stake: the second-largest payout of the majors. Bryson DeChambeau took home $4.3 million for last yearâs win from a $21.5 million purse. But the USGA announced Wednesday it wasnât raising the purse or winnerâs payout.