Terrific chip-in on 16th hole boosts Macon native Henley to signature PGA Tour win at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Russell Henley, for the first time in a while, got the chance to show some emotion on the golf course.

The Stratford and Georgia grad got his first PGA Tour win in 854 days Sunday, snagging the victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando after nailing an impressive chip-in on the 16th hole to take the lead for good over Collin Morikawa.

Henley had four prior wins on the tour — the last one came in the World Wide Technology Championship on Nov. 6, 2022 — but this one felt signature. 

The chip-in served as the defining moment, getting a reaction from the crowd and boosting Henley to the win that helped him put to rest the narrative of late struggles, as he had developed a reputation for blowing late lates in recent years.

The second-best moment of the tournament came after Henley sank the final putt, when his children ran out to embrace him right after he put the ball in his pocket and shook hands with caddies and competitors.

Henley is now ranked seventh in the Official World Golf ranking.

Henley had never conquered as strong a field in his previous four wins as he did Sunday. He defeated top-25 FedExCup players Morikawa, Michael Kim, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Scottie Scheffler, Daniel Berger, Rory McIlroy, Sungjae Im, Ludvig Aberg and Hideki Matsuyama, among others.

It looked as if the narrative of tough losses would rear its ugly head again after two bogeys on the front nine and one on the back nine, but Henley remained steady while leader Morikawa came back to the field a bit. 

After the chip-in got the fans and announcers hollering, Henley then calmly parred No. 17 and 18 with Morikawa right on his heels, a first in his pro career.

Greeting and hugging him enthusiastically right behind his kids was his wife, Tiel.

“She puts steel in my spine,” Henley said in the TV interview after the hugs. “She’s tough on me when she needs to be, and (is) super supportive. She’s out here in a different house a lot of weeks and just trying to entertain these kids.”

Henley was then the focus of a PGATour.com all-access video. Cameras followed him from the time the ball found the bottom of the cup on No. 18 through the awards ceremony. The cameramen caught everything — Henley signing his card, carrying a daughter and walking from place to place with his family.

One segment shows one of Henley’s daughters strutting next to her dad before he puts on the red cardigan that goes to the winner. The two of them then return to the course for the trophy presentation, where even 10 minutes or so later Henley said he was still in shock.

His post-tournament press conference lasted about 15 minutes, roughly four times longer than the vast majority of his post-tournament interviews. He was much more expansive and conversational rather than the reserved and verbally concise Henley most know.

There was plenty to talk about, of course.

How he did it

Henley fell behind a bit after the bogeys, but then Morikawa was off-target on the 14^th hole and bogeyed himself. Henley birdied to get within one as the door opened.

Morikawa’s wedge on 16 got to within 20 feet, while Henley was in thick rough. Then came the perfect chip, speeding to the hole and bouncing off the flagstick to drop in for an eagle, Henley’s second of the tournament.

Morikawa had to settle for a par, and Henley had his first lead of the day.

This time Henley stayed the course and calmly finished, his face giving no hints of positive or negative. That changed a little bit afterward, though.

“I was just so nervous,” he said in the TV interview. “I can’t breathe right now.”

Henley’s fifth PGA Tour win was his biggest in a few ways. First, there’s the winner’s check of $4 million, making up 10.6% of his career winnings of $37,473,215.

Then there was the field of stars against him, not to mention the shedding of a reputation built around losing in late rounds. As shocked as Henley was, the finish was more along the “about time” lines for the golf world.

Henley has made all six cuts so far this year and has been 11 under or better in five of them, with four top-10 finishes. He’s had 10 top-10 finishes since the start of last year, the most on tour in that span without a win.

Henley could certainly empathize with Morikawa, who watched his control vanish down the stretch.

“Hats off to Collin, he played super steady,” Henley said. “Sometimes golf is just mean like that.”

Henley didn’t have too much time to celebrate with the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the final signature event before next month’s Masters, beginning Tuesday.

Now more eyes than are on Henley as he tees off on No. 10 Thursday at 8:35 a.m. with Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland. He’s now a full-fledged top-10 player, up to No. 2 in the FedExCup rankings and seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I don’t really feel like a top-10 player,” he said Sunday. “I definitely don’t feel like it. I mean, I guess the rankings would tell you that, but I have so much respect for so many players out here who are all so talented, and so it’s hard for me to kind of comprehend that.”

How he handles it this weekend will be observed as well.

Macon heritage

As it is, more is known about Henley now than in the past several years, courtesy of some off-kilter questioning during his press conference.

One question: “Growing up in Macon and playing guitar, did that era’s musical kind of underpinnings influence you at all?”

Henley needed that one repeated, but did throw props at the city’s music history and said that it was “pretty cool that the Allman Brothers are from Macon.” Then there was the comparison of his guitar-playing, which he hasn’t done much of in decades, to golf.

“I don’t play much guitar anymore,” he said. “I change a lot of diapers and stuff. Yeah, I don’t think about it too much. I think that was kind of a long time ago when I played a lot of guitar.”

Then things turned back to golf. Henley discussed his confidence level and, according to him, improved work ethic recently.

“I don’t know that I would have felt like I could win three or four years ago,” he said. “I’m definitely more confident in the last two years than I was four years ago.”

Especially at the end, with everything on the line.

“I think 17 and 18, yeah, I was very nervous,” Henley admitted. “That was as nervous as I can remember ever being.”

Which is something, after making his Presidents Cup debut last fall.

“Yeah, I mean, I guess maybe I was more at the Presidents Cup,” he said. “I’m not really sure. When you get that nervous and your heart’s beating that fast, it’s hard to even, it’s hard to rate it. I was very nervous, though.”