Another career milestone awaits for almost giddy Russell Henley with Ryder Cup
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
It probably won’t hit completely until Thursday night or Friday morning, but being part of the Ryder Cup team has Russell Henley in a little bit of a daze.
“I'm still kind of pinching myself, honestly, sitting here talking to y'all and seeing all the stands and stuff up and all the red, white and blue,” Henley said during a media session earlier this week. “We've had a couple cool meetings and stuff. It's still, like, wow, this is like a dream come true.
“I'm just so excited and thankful. Kind of every day I'm waking up here, I'm like, wow, this is going to be a cool day.”
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A year ago, Henley was in the same position as part of the Presidents Cup team. While he had another quality top-10 season, his performance in Montreal put him high on the list of probables for the Ryder Cup.
Action begins at 7 a.m. on Friday at Bethpage Black on Long Island in New York City with two-man match play, fourballs, and then 12 singles matches.
Teams and pairings will be announced Thursday afternoon (and this story will be updated).
What’s he in for, in part?
“The par-71 course is considered a major test even for the best professional golfers, while its location near New York City makes for easy access for a big, noisy crowd.”
It’ll bear little semblance to the controlled atmosphere of Augusta. Far away from home, Henley and Harris English will hear barking each day.
Henley, who is ranked third in the Official World Golf Rankings, and Scottie Scheffler have been linked as a probable duo since they had quite a good and successful time at the Presidents Cup.
They were teamed up three times in Montreal, winning fourball on Thursday and the foursome on Saturday, but losing their Friday foursome.
Scheffler lost his singles round on Sunday against Hideki Matsuyama, but Henley topped Sungjae Im 3 & 2 to win his singles meeting.
Henley had a comfort zone during that pairing that might have surprised some, considering Henley had fairly suddenly emerged as a top-10 player matched p with the world’s No. 1.
“I think the pressure that I feel is the pressure that I put on myself. I've been friends with Scottie for a bunch of years now and get along with him great. I don't really feel that from him.
“I just enjoy being around him,” Henley said. “I feel like if I was paired with, like, Tiger, it would probably feel a little bit different just because I grew up watching Tiger all the time. Because Scottie is younger than me and I've spent so much time with him, I guess I just feel a little bit differently about it.”
Henley and former Georgia teammate Harris English are both 36, second oldest among the players, behind 38 year old Shane Lowry and matched by Rory McIlroy.
Of the five rookies overall, Henley is the oldest.
The PGA Tour compiles stats in dozens of categories, down to the very specific club head speed, approaches from 75-100 yards, “approaches from >100 yards, and 3-putt avoidance, to name but a few.
Of the primary stats, Henley is in the top 30 in several: 1. approaches from inside 100 yards; 2. putting from 20-25 feet; 4. scoring average adjusted/6 scoring average actual; 5. shots gained tee to green; 7. driving accuracy percentage; 8. back 9 average; 11. round 1 average; 15. front 9 average; putting from 10-15 feet; 17. greens in regulation percentage; 19. scrambling; approaches from 200 yards (rough); 21. round 2 average, among others.
He’s the shortest off the tee of the U.S. players, but, as a story on the drivers, notes: “We all know what we’re getting from Russell Henley and he could well be the surprise package – there’s a good chance that he’ll be partnering up with Scheffler in the foursomes. He hits fairways for fun.”
ESPN ranks Henley seventh among the entire field:
“Henley might be a 36-year-old Ryder Cup rookie, but he has been one of the best golfers in the world the past couple of seasons. He collected his fifth PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 9. He also finished in the top 10 in four of the past eight majors.
“Henley went 3-1-0 in his first Presidents Cup appearance in 2024, teaming up with Scheffler to win two matches. Henley hits fairways and greens and keeps it simple.”
He’s still a little wide-eyed just at the accomplishment of making the Ryder Cup, but his demeanor will eliminate that once the play starts. That, and some consultation with those who made their team play debut in the Presidents Cup and then followed up at the Ryder Cup, like Justin Thomas.
“It's great to have gotten that experience, especially in a way, Presidents Cup last year,” Henley said. “Basically he said the more times you can be on a team and get that team experience, the more valuable it is. He said he was really happy that he got to play a Presidents Cup before his first Ryder Cup.
“He's been really helpful with just little pieces of advice, on what to expect, and kind of brings an encouraging and fun attitude to the team room.”
The drastic change in format compared to a normal tournament doesn’t change the gambling aspect.
Henley is considered the top American rookie and top rookie overall. He has a shot to be the top American scorer.
There’s naturally plenty of attention on social media, from bettors – who spent about three years griping about Henley’s inability to content – and others:
@RoadHoleGolf: “Russell Henley is Team USA’s secret weapon. In 2025 he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, stacked up 10 Top-10s, and averaged 69.76. He makes his Ryder Cup debut at Bethpage - not the loudest name on the roster, but the type who flips matches quietly in red, white, and blue.”
@TheModelManiac: “Since only 1 person can play with Scottie at a time, here are the optimal FOURSOMES pairings … without Scheffler (he was in the first 22 optimal pairings): Russell Henley (odd tee shots) and JJ Spaun (even tee shots) are the first non-Scheffler optimal pairing in my projections. Bryson sneaks in twice between the 2nd JJ Henley pairing where JJ hits odd tee shots. A small difference.”
@Clam_Fan: “Russell Henley‘s game is built for the Ryder Cup, he could really be a horse. Team USA is going to need his very best!”
@JosephLaMagna: “If you gave me Russell Henley with six clubs versus any true scratch, I would take out a loan and put everything I own on Henley.”
Henley’s dreams of being an elite player added another chapter with this latest accomplishment, something not necessarily on the realistic horizon a half-dozen years ago.
“I’ve been trying to make these teams my whole career,” he said at the Procore tuneup last week. “I feel like I really put everything I had into it about six years ago. I started to work on everything in my game and kind of changed the way I looked at tournament golf a little bit.
“I changed my strategy more to play where the best players in the world are playing even if the course doesn’t feel comfortable to me. I had kept my card for a long time at that point and it was really seeing if I could take it to another level.
“I think just having that focus has helped me. It feels kind of surreal to have made two teams. I’m just trying to enjoy it.”