Central Georgia Sports ReportSeptember 29, 2025Comment

Monday's Report: Russell Henley/Ryder Cup, Mercer volleyball mourns, Macon TD Club speaker; Falcons, UGA, Braves, Lee County's Fabrizio; Ryder Cup, NFL Sunday, college football, MLB, WNBA, NASCAR

Central Georgia Sports ReportSeptember 29, 2025Comment

📰S📰C📰O📰R📰E📰B📰O📰A📰R📰D
🏫🏫🏫College🏫🏫🏫
⛳⛳⛳ Golf ⛳⛳⛳

M-Bryan Brothers Collegiate, Mercer

Pro

⚾ ⚾ ⚾MLB ⚾ ⚾ ⚾

Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 1

📰C📰O📰V📰E📰R📰A📰G📰E📰

Around/About Central Georgia

Henley rebounds from Ryder struggle on Sunday

After being roasted on social media – and on some mainstream media – for two days, Russell Henley bowed up.

The former Stratford and Georgia standout turned in one of the top performances in singles competition and kept alive the U.S. comeback hopes into the final hole of the eighth match of the day.

Both were unexpected, Henley’s turnaround and America’s turnaround. But a missed 10-footer on No. 17 left the door open, and a short – by half a foot – 10-footer on 18 was countered by Shane Lowry dropping a pressure-packed 6-footer to end the U.S.’s hopes of a historic comeback.

That left their match in a tie, and gave Europe enough points to retain the Ryder Cup, which they won outright.

“I played well,” Henley said. “Definitely felt the nerves coming down the stretch. I've never felt nerves quite like that. It was quite an experience, quite an atmosphere.”

Henley’s reputation – as well as that of U.S. captain Keegan Bradley – took a shot for two days after subpar performances in foursomes competition with Scottie Scheffler, who was hammered as well for another poor Ryder weekend.

Henley finished 0-2-1, earning a half point with Sunday’s performance. Scheffler rebounded to go 1-4 with his win on Sunday, but he only improved to 1-10-2 inn Ryder Cup competition.

They were struggling teammates in the two foursomes competition, but responded in singles play.

Henley followed a bogey on No. 1 with three birdies before another bogey to trail by one for four holes.

It was tied for four holes before Henley’s birdie on 13 put him in the lead, which he added to on 14 with a birdie to go 2 up, while his teammates continued their comeback.

Henley seemed destined for a storybook finish after finding the bunker on 18’s tee shot only to leave it just short of 10 feet from the hole for birdie. Lowry, though, went tee to fairway to green, four feet closer.

Henley’s putt was on target but short, and Lowry’s 6-footer was solid. Europe clinched the Cup when Tyrell Hatton tied Collin Morikawa for the needed half point.

“Very disappointed the way I finished, leaving those putts short,” Henley said. “But I gave it myself, and hopefully I learned from it.”

Mercer mourns death of former volleyball player

When Ali Waldon signed to play volleyball at Mercer in November of 2022, the Bears were getting a player who had led high school teams to two state semifinals and a state title, earning an All-America honor.

Waldon and Mercer has only one season together. The 5-11 outside hitter was diagnosed in August 2024 with a form of bone cancer that claimed her life early Sunday morning.

The Odessa, Florida native was a Southern Conference all-freshman team pick in 2023.

Minor hip pain in the summer of 2024 led to an MRI, which led to further testing, which uncovered Waldon was diagnosed that August, before her sophomore year at Mercer, with a osteosarcoma – “a cancer that begins in the cells that form bones … tends to happen most often in teenagers and young adults,” as per the Mayo Clinic – and a tumor in her hip area.

According to a cancer support social media post, treatment included two biopsies, a long surgery to remove the tumor, nearly two dozen rounds of chemo, physical and occupational therapy, among several treatments.

But she remained optimistic.

She was accepted into a clinical trial at North Carolina, and became honorary captain at Appalachian State. She had returned home after the trial.

Her mother posted the announcement on a GoFundme page:

“Our hearts are shattered. It is with deep sorrow that we announce that my beautiful Ali passed away at 4:36 this morning. Please keep us in your prayers as we navigate through this difficult time. We will announce a celebration of life soon. Ali would not want us to be sad, she was not amongst the Ordinary, she was the funniest, happiest, most loving person I’ve ever known and I was blessed to be her mom!”

The page had raised more than $100,000 as of Sunday night.

Mercer visits Furman on Thursday and hosts The Citadel on Saturday.

Georgia Tech assistant Bohannon to speak at TD Club

Former Kennesaw State head coach and current Georgia Tech assistant Brian Bohannon is Monday’s speaker at the Macon Touchdown Club.

The club meets at the Methodist Home for Children and Youth, in the Rumford Center, at 304 Pierce Ave. It starts at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and the program to begin around 7. Admission for non-members is $30.

Maconite Chris Hatcher of Samford is next week’s speaker, followed by Mercer’s Mike Jacobs.

Bohannon went 72-38 in 10-plus seasons at Kennesaw State, as the program’s first head coach.

Despite surprising success at a startup program, Bohannon was abruptly fired last November, a little more than a month after speaking at the Touchdown Club.

Athletics director Milton Overton initially said Bohannon resigned, backtracking after Bohannon said he was fired.

The Owls were 1-8 in their first season as an FBS program, making the jump after only 10 years of competition.

Two months later, he was hired as a senior offensive assistant at Georgia Tech, which is currently undefeated and ranked 17th in the latest AP poll.

The 54-year-old Macon native and Griffin grad played at and graduated from Georgia, and has a Master’s from West Georgia. He has coached at Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Navy, West Georgia, and Gardner-Webb.

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