Russell Henley seemed surprised that he found a way to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Henley eagled the 16th hole Sunday to vault in front and win at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.
“I’ve tried to just work really hard in all aspects of my game to try to put myself in position to win tournaments and compete at the highest possible level on the biggest and best courses,” Henley said. “Just crazy that it happened like that.”
Henley’s 2-under-par 70 put him at 11-under 277, giving him his first victory since the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship — a span of 854 days. It marks his fifth victory on the PGA Tour and his first at a signature event.
He won by one shot over third-round leader Collin Morikawa, who posted a 72 with a par on the final hole.
“I’ve grown up watching this event and just seeing all the amazing finishes coming down the stretch, and you never really think you’re going to get that opportunity to come down the 18th and make a par to win,” Henley said. “It’s really just hard to take in right now.”
The key moment came when Henley’s eagle chip from just off the 16th green found the cup from about 54 1/2 feet away, sending him from one shot behind Morikawa to one in front.
The ball had lots of momentum and might have gone considerably past the hole.
“Sometimes you get a good break like that and it hits the pin and goes in,” Henley said. “… Guess I need to watch it on the replay to see how fast it was moving, but kind of surreal.”
Henley was 2 over for the day through 10 holes before getting on track. He had birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 before his big move.
“It’s so hard and difficult around this place,” he said. “I just tried to stay really tough this week.”
Morikawa, a two-time major champion whose last victory was in October 2023, had a card with three birdies and three bogeys Sunday.
Canada’s Corey Conners (71) was third at 9 under and Michael Kim (69) placed fourth at 8 under.
The results were encouraging for golfers going into The Players Championship in the coming week.
“I think my ball-striking was really strong, I think I putted quite well,” Conners said. “Most of the days I was hitting my lines. And, yeah, got a lot of freedom with my iron play, hit a lot of great shots this week, and I think that will be important to continue next week.”
Kim shook off an opening-round 75 to end up in contention.
“The driver and just ball-striking in general, I feel like I did really well,” Kim said. “And if the putter heats up in the next week, hopefully I’ll have a great chance.”
Keegan Bradley (64) tied with Austria’s Sepp Straka (69) for fifth place at 7 under, while Ireland’s Shane Lowry, the leader at the tournament’s midway mark, shot 70 and finished seventh at 6 under.
“I played well all week and then today, especially, was really, really solid,” Bradley said.
Bradley made a big early surge, but he was done while the leaders still had about half of the round to complete.
Bradley played the first nine holes at 7-under 29, marking the lowest front-nine score in course history. He eagled the par-5 fifth hole with a pitch from 73 yards away, and followed that with three straight birdies.
“I was walking off 9 trying to figure out if I did shoot 29, and I was pretty sure I did, but it was exciting,” Bradley said.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (70) tied for 11th at 4 under.
“I could be definitely a little sharper with the irons, a little sharper on the greens, but overall I felt like I did a lot of good stuff,” Scheffler said.
–Field Level Media
