By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Throughout last season, Russell Henley was playing his way up the PGA Tour ladder and its two rankings, the FedEx Cup and Official World Golf Rankings.

As summer – on the calendar, not thermometer – came to an end with the three FedEx playoff tournaments, Henley’s name was attached to speculation as to a Presidents Cup appointment.

Two days after he finished an epic final round of the Tour Championship in Atlanta with an epic 36-yard eagle to tie the course record with a 62 to finish tied for fourth came the Captain’s Pick to the Presidents Cup team.

Fast forward to about 11 months later, and there was much less suspense on whether Henley would follow up with his Ryder Cup debut.

That was all but sealed before the start of last week’s BMW Championship in Maryland, but it didn’t lessen the joy when it became official shortly after Scottie Scheffler finished off the BMW.

Sept. 3, 2024 and Aug. 17, 2025 are days Henley and Henley Nation won’t soon forget.

2024 Tour Championship
⛳ Henley has more work to do in this year’s Tour Championship, with staggered starting scores, but East Lake facelifts may help
⛳ Henley off to a quality start at Tour Championship
⛳ Second day at Tour rough one for Henley
⛳ Henley creeps closer to the top 10
⛳ Epic eagle on 18 completes epic round for Henley in Tour Championship, now awaits word on the Presidents Cup

2024 Presidents Cup
⛳ As expected, Maconite and Stratford grad Russell Henley – ‘I’m just a grinder’ – picked for U.S. Presidents Cup team
⛳ Henley set for Presidents Cup debut in Montreal
⛳Henley shines in Presidents Cup debut
⛳ Henley’s roller coaster year of emotions marked by father’s death and his 1st Presidents Cup team

Henley more than showed out at the Presidents Cup, becoming fairly attached to the world’s best golfer, Scheffler, during the festivities in Montreal.

So solid was his debut in match-play action that he needn’t have the 2025 he’s had to be high on the Ryder Cup consideration list. But he went and all but sealed that automatic top-6 spot weeks ago.

Scheffler and Henley will likely share some conversations this week about the future while competing in the present.

“Russell is a tremendously hard worker,” Scheffler said Wednesday during a media session in Atlanta. “When I'm in the gym, I see him in the gym. When I'm out practicing, I see him out practicing.

“Russell is a guy I look up to for a variety of reasons. He's a great person; he's a great golfer as well. Anytime you see a guy who puts in the amount of effort that Russell puts into becoming a good golfer and seeing him have success, it really is special to see.”

Last year’s Presidents Cup came a month after the Tour Championship, and this year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black starts a month and two days after the final round in East Lake.

A year ago, Henley entered the Tour Championship ranked 12th in FedEx and 14th in OWGR. And the speculation grew on his chances at a Presidents Cup selection.

That announcement came two days after he finished an epic final round with an epic 36-yard eagle to tie the renovated course record with a 62.

And speaking of that, the Tour Championship is up next this week at East Lake in Atlanta. Henley tees off at 1:27 on Thursday.

Last year was interesting.

He opened with a quality 67, appeared to drop from contention with a 71, made it interesting with a 67, and then dazzled with a 62.

In the Tour’s staggered scoring, he was 19 under, 11 shots back of winner Scheffler. In real golf scoring, his 17-under 267 was the fourth-best score, only three behind Scheffler, who had the third-best weekend at 264, trailing Collin Morikawa by two.

This year, staggered scoring has been ditched, and everybody starts even, like they do normally. The purse has been adjusted to $40 million, with a quarter of that going to the winner. That’s $15 million less than Scheffler took home last year.

Henley deposited a check for $4.83 million after tying for fourth, which was slotted at $6 million for a lone fourth-place finish. That’s dropped to $3.2 million this year, with the top eight individual finishers earning at least a million.

When players are tied, the pool of money for the spots is added up and divided. Last year, fourth was $6 million, fifth was $5 million and sixth was $3.5 million, which equals $15.5 million, then divided by the three players who tied for fourth.

Should Henley match last year and take fourth by himself, he’d pass $45 million in career earnings. He’s currently 31st in all-time earnings at $42,274,246. His $10.28 million for 2025 is fifth.

East Lake this year is par 70 and 7,490 yards, with No. 14 back to a par 4 and a slight fairway reduction on No. 17, with some added short grass on No. 8.

Thus, Henley will have to make few strategic adjustments from 2024 when that 267 turned out to be his second-best four-round score of the year.

He also entered the finale with more momentum than last year. His average finish in the five tournaments preceding last year’s Tour Championship is 22nd, compared to ninth this year.