Henley carries a superb three-tournament stretch and a career weekend last year into the 153rd British Open
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
For probably the first time in awhile, it’s a safe bet that Russell Henley has some positive anticipation for first tournament away from the lower 48 states this year.
Last year
The British Open has been quite unkind to Henley, but a couple observers are optimistic he'll reverse his trend
Henley off to a huge start at British Open
Wind gets in the way of Henley, and many others, in second round of British Open
Henley counters a frisky Friday with a scintillating Saturday at British Open, and is very much in contention
Henley stays in contention, turns in another solid round for best career performance at British Open
The Open Championship hasn’t been one to circle on the calendar for Henley, until this year.
Henley enters the 153rd British Open amid his best three-tournament run and a year after a career best finish at The Open.
Henley will have some extra time to continue adjusting to the time change, teeing off at 9:37 a.m. EST, with Tyrrell Hatton and Min Woo Lee.
The Stratford grad is ranked fifth in both the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking.
Henley’s 305th event as a pro is his 11th British Open. He’s batting .500, so to speak, having missed five cuts, including three times in the last five tries.
Making the cut hasn’t been much to talk about. He is 2 over par overall in five events, with the average finish of 39th.
That was boosted, however, by a surprising fifth-place finish last year, surprising in that Henley smacked it around for a 75 in the second round, as well as considering his history there.
Of course, that windy Friday bruised a lot of scorecards. Henley seamlessly regrouped and sizzled on Saturday with a 5-under 66, tying for sixth en route to his best Open and fifth-place finish.
Last year was at Royal Troon, The Open moving around to different links courses. This is only the second time at Royal Portrush since Henley turned pro. Shane Lowry won by six shots in 2019, shooting a 15 under. Henley wasn’t in the field in 2019 or 2020.
In 28 Open rounds, Henley has ballooned to a 75 or worse 11 times – including his first five of his first six rounds in 2013 and 2014 - and slipped to 70 or better a dozen times.
Henley, though, was on point for three of four rounds last year.
He enters the weekend fifth on the tour in shots gained, fourth in putts 20-25 feet, sixth in shots gained around the green, 14th in greens-in-regulation percentage, 15th in approach to green.
He’s 150th or worse in driving distance, approaches from 50-75 and 250-275 yards, and putting from 15-20 feet, among other stats.
Henley tied a career low with a 61 in third round of the Travelers almost a month ago, which is tied for the second-best round on the tour this year. He tied for second there with his second tournament of the year with four straight sub-70 rounds.