Russell Henley put on a charge Sunday afternoon that would have made Ben Hogan proud.
After getting up and down from 57 feet off the green for par on the 15th hole at Colonial Country Club in Hogan’s hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, Henley birdied his last three holes in regulation, then birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Eric Cole and win the Charles Schwab Challenge.
“Still kind of speechless about it,” Henley said in the interview room after collecting the $1.782 million winner’s check for his sixth PGA Tour victory. “I was on 15 in the rough after my tee shot, and was just like, man, I got to save par to not go over par on the day. So, yeah, I didn’t really start thinking about birdieing the last three until when I made the putt on 17. I knew that I had a chance to put a little pressure if I played 18 well. So just seeing those putts go in, I just got a little bit of momentum and, yeah, hard to believe I’m sitting here.”
That par save kept Henley three shots behind 54-hole leader Cole. At the par-3 16th, Henley made a 15-footer for birdie. At the par-4 17th, he made another 15-footer. And at the par-4 18th, he rolled in a left-to-right breaking putt of nearly 17 feet to pull into a tie with Cole, who was playing in the threesome behind him.
Henley Kept Rolling in the Playoff
Henley, who started the final round tied for fifth, three shots behind Cole, closed with a 3-under-par 67 for a 12-under total. Cole, who had taken the lead with a 63 on Saturday, birdied his first two holes, but bogeyed the fourth hole and doubled the ninth. After a birdie at 11 to get back to even, Cole made seven consecutive pars for a closing 70.
The golfers went back to the 441-yard 18th for the playoff. After a drive of 307 yards, Henley hit his approach to 4 feet, 10 inches. Cole’s approach from 107 yards finished 13 feet from the hole. His birdie attempt rolled past the high side of the cup and, after tapping in for par, he watched Henley roll the winning birdie putt into the center of the cup.
“I was still kind of running on pure adrenaline at that moment,” said Henley of his playoff hole. “I was glad I got to go hit a few balls off 1 tee while I was waiting, just to kind of swing my arms a little bit and just kind of try to get into a little bit of a rhythm, because I was very excited. That was huge for me. Then just continued on into the last hole. Yeah, crazy, crazy finish. I’m just so over the moon.”
Cole was Seeking his First Tour Win
Henley’s late surge denied fellow 37-year-old Cole his first PGA Tour win on a day when defending champion Ben Griffin came up one shot short of becoming the only player other than Ben Hogan to win consecutive tournaments at Colonial.
Griffin (65), Alex Smalley (68) and Mac Meissner (69) finished tied for third at 11-under 269 at the course known as Hogan’s Alley. Hogan won the first two Colonials in 1946 and 1947, went back-to-back again in 1952 and 1953, and got his last win there in 1959.
Cole, in his 120th PGA Tour start, never fell out of the lead in regulation during the final round, even when finishing the front nine with his first double bogey (or worse) in a span of 316 holes. After a wayward drive at the 398-yard ninth and an approach into the water fronting the green, his long bogey putt stopped an inch from the cup.
His only birdie on the back was at the par-5 628-yard 11th, but he had some significant par saves down the stretch. He made an up-and-down out of a fairway bunker at the 443-yard 12th hole, lagged a putt inside 5 feet at the par-3 16th after his tee shot on the green was 47 feet from the cup, then had a short chip to set up his last putt after his approach at the 18th took an awkward bounce right to the rough and was 15 feet away.
“I was proud with the way I played. I think I played solid for the most part. I just needed to shave a shot somewhere,” said Cole, who began the day with a one-shot lead over Ryan Gerard. “It’s disappointing, but I still feel good and happy with the way I played.”
Big Names Playing at Jack’s Place
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai are among the stars in Dublin, Ohio, for the Memorial Tournament, a Signature event at Muirfield Village Golf Club, the pride and joy of designer Jack Nicklaus.
The field features nine of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking and six past tournament winners, including Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay, and Billy Horschel.
