Russell Henley steals Arnold Palmer Invitational title from Collin Morikawa
Russell Henley didn’t even smile after hitting his most crucial shot of the day. The 35-year-old pro chipped in for eagle on the par-5 16th hole at Bay Hill during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which stole the lead from playing partner Collin Morikawa.
But two holes later, Henley could finally relax. He was a winner.
Henley finished par-par at Arnie’s place to sign for a two-under 70 and finish 11 under, good for a one-shot win over Morikawa. A Signature Event, he earned $4 million for the victory, the fifth of his PGA Tour career.
“It’s unbelievable,” Henley said. “Hats off to Collin, he played great today, he played super steady, but sometimes golf is just mean like that.”
It’s also without question the biggest of his wins, following his other titles at the World Wide Technology Championship, Shell Houston Open, Honda Classic and Sony Open.
Morikawa opened the day with a one-shot lead over Henley and pushed it to two after he holed out from the bunker for birdie on the 1st. He then took a three-shot advantage over Corey Conners and Henley to the back nine, which is where things got interesting.
Morikawa went bogey-par-birdie to begin the back and keep his lead at three, but he made a costly bogey on the par-3 14th when he missed the green short and failed to get up and down. Henley took advantage, rolling in a birdie from 10 feet away — his second in three holes — for the two-shot swing.
All of a sudden a handful of contenders were back in the mix. Henley was one back, and the players at eight under were just two behind Morikawa.
But it was the par-5 16th that shook up the tournament.
In the penultimate pairing, Jason Day, at eight under, found the water with his second shot. Double bogey. He was done. Conners, also at eight under, got up and down from the bunker to make birdie. That was his first birdie of the day (following 15 straight pars) and got him to within one of the lead.
Then came the final pairing to the 16th. Morikawa drove it into the bunker, couldn’t go for the green in two, laid up and had 19 feet for birdie. Henley hit his second shot over the green, but then chipped it in for an unlikely eagle, as his ball would have rolled a good 7-8 feet by the hole had it not clanked the pin and dropped in. That gave him the solo lead at 11 under, and once Morikawa missed his birdie try, Henley led by one with two holes to play.
“I knew it was probably going to be, I don’t know, 5, 6 feet by, but I don’t know that you can stop it with any pace right there,” Henley said. “I think Collin hit his a couple feet by. That’s just kind of golf. I mean, sometimes you get a good break like that and it hits the pin and goes in.”
Morikawa had birdie attempts of 39 and 27 feet on the last two holes, but he couldn’t convert either. Henley rolled in a clutch 6-footer to save par on 17 and then two-putted for par from 43 feet on the last.
Morikawa shot an even-par 72. Conners finished alone in third at nine under.
SOURCE: [Golf.com]
