Russell Henley (-11) has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational after signing a card of 70 strokes in a final day that was less thrilling than expected, at least until the final stretch, where emotions did indeed run high.
The Georgia player noted on Saturday, after getting into the stellar match on Sunday, that he was in the best moment of his career, and there is certainly no better way to confirm it than with this victory, the most important of the five he has already accumulated on the PGA Tour. Because he will also ascend to Number 7 in the world, by far his best ranking in this classification (he had never reached the world top ten), another sign that this player’s good streak is no coincidence, but rather a sustained trend over time.
Henley won thanks to an explosive final third of the round, with birdies on holes 12 and 14 and an unexpected eagle on the 16th, where he holed out from an awkward position with a touch of luck (if that ball hadn’t hit the pin and gone in, it would have rolled off the green on the opposite side). The four million cheque was well-earned, indeed. But there was also a great defeated player, Collin Morikawa (-10), unable to play below par today to make that statement he has been rehearsing for so long.
In the end, the wind didn’t blow as much as expected, but the fact is that none of the reasonable contenders for victory were really putting pressure on the leader. Jason Day (-5) and Corey Conners (-9) passed the halfway point of the round at par for the course, and Henley was over par. The most serious attacks, like that of Keegan Bradley (-7, round of 64), or Michael Kim (-8) came from far back, and the fact is that Morikawa didn’t seem threatened, but neither did he take advantage of the day’s indecision to show everyone that they were actually fighting for second place. Only time will tell what mark this new disappointment has left, but it is evident that Henley has today put his finger on the wound of the two-time Major winner, who for some time now has shown deficiencies when it comes to closing a tournament. Morikawa was like that boxer who is comfortably winning the fight on points and suddenly finds himself surprised by an electric combination from his rival and ends up on the canvas, with no time or room for reaction.
The Californian was superb off the tee today, as it is, but he faltered or hesitated at key moments with irons or wedges in hand, precisely his strong point. He wasn’t very sharp around the green either, an area where he had been the best in the first 54 holes of the tournament. Be that as it may, once again, on the brink of victory, he faltered on one front or another. And, being demanding with a player of his stature, he also didn’t show a clear determination to go for the flag on the 18th from the middle of the fairway. No one says that’s easy, but he had no choice if he wanted to put pressure on Henley, who had just snatched the lead from him.
Watch out for Henley, because with this victory he has bought many tickets for the Ryder at Bethpage, where he could pair with the World Number One, Scottie Scheffler, just as they did on three occasions in the last Presidents Cup, where the Georgian debuted with the US squad.
