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Inside the numbers: Will these PGA Tour pros keep it up?

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:36:00 GMT

The PGA Tour is still so young, most people aren't even aware it's started. Still, with the first five tournaments of 2013 in the books -- the last two of which were won by arguably the sport's two biggest names -- there's been plenty of golf to analyze. Here we present three stats that jump out so far, and take a stab at whether or not they can hold up as the year goes on:

Player: Russell Henley
Stat: 1.574 strokes gained/putting (1st)
Will he keep it up? Yes. Well, not to the number itself, but to Henley continuing to putt well. Since strokes gained putting became an official stat, the season-ending leaders have been Luke Donald (.844 in 2011) and Brandt Snedeker (.860 in 2012). Henley can really roll it, but a 1.574 seems a bit high, unless the rookie has some sort of magic putter. It did seem that way, though, as the University of Georgia product had seven one putts on the final nine holes of his Sony Open win, including pouring in birdies on the last four holes. Following that performance, his caddie, Todd Gjesvold, called Henley the "best putter I've ever seen." OK, so that could be a little kissing up to the boss, but you get the point.

Player: Nick Watney
Stat: 80.3% greens in regulation (3rd)
Will he keep it up? No. Other than in 2008, when he was 16th at 68.23%, Watney hasn't finished better than 30th in this category. The past two years, he's been consistent, but slightly better than mediocre, finishing 54th in both 2011 and 2012. Then again, he did switch equipment companies in the offseason, so perhaps his new Nike clubs are really making a difference. If he keeps this up, the Swoosh might have to shoot some new commercials.

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Player: Charles Howell III
Stat: 69.114 scoring average (1st)
Will he keep it up? The jury is still out. A lot has been expected from CH3 since he burst onto the scene more than a decade ago. While he's had a very solid career with nearly $25 million in on-course earnings, he hasn't fully delivered on the promise he showed as an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State. Shortly after, he won the 2002 Michelob Championship to highlight a year in which he finished ninth on the PGA Tour's money list, but he's added just one win since (2007 Northern Trust Open). Maybe 2013 will finally be the breakout year. Howell already has a playoff loss to Brian Gay at the Humana, a T-3 at the Sony and a T-9 at Torrey Pines. Keep in mind that at 33, he's the same age Phil Mickelson was when people were still wondering if he'd ever take his game to the next level.

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Make way for Russell Henley, golf's newest star

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:56:00 GMT

By John Strege

Russell Henley's dream foursome, if we are to take him at his word, would include Kid Rock, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Andres Gonzales, a PGA Tour player who bills himself as "half man, half amazing."

(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

More likely, his was a cheeky response (what, no Nicklaus, Palmer and Woods?), but one that hints at a tour rookie for whom convention is to be bucked. Hinting at that as well and in a more emphatic manner is that he won the first full-field event of the PGA Tour season, the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday in his first start as a member of the tour.

Gone, apparently, are the days when tour rookies audacious enough to appear on a leaderboard, with a few notable exceptions, would still respect the game enough to finish fifth or worse. Among the exceptions were Tiger and Rory. Henley is identifiable neither by his first name, nor his last. Yet.

Henley, 23, played Waialae Country Club in Honolulu last week as though he were enjoying casual rounds with friends at home, posting scores of 63, 63, 67 and 63 and winning three ways and all presses, or 1,008,000 PGA Tour dollars.

Henley's performance was either a warning shot of his impending stardom or a sign of changing times, maybe both. Rookies today, the best among them, at any rate, seem to arrive on tour in possession of advanced degrees in competitive golf and wholly unafraid to impose their will on a golf establishment powerless to stop it.

Their growing pains are behind them, endured in college or on lesser tours, and they arrive ready to succeed and disinclined to fail, even when circumstances suggest that that is the more likely option, as it would be in contention on Sunday afternoon. Instead, Henley birdied his final five holes.

"He might be a star right out of the blocks," Golf Channel's Johnny Miller said after Henley holed yet another putt, a nine-footer to save par on the 12th hole. "His game right now, there might be just a handful of guys playing better in the whole world than he is."

Henley, 23, was likely to move into the top 50 in the World Ranking with this victory, his third in his last four stars, his other two coming near the end of the Web.com Tour season last year. He also won a Web.com Tour event as an amateur the year before, and in 2010, he and Scott Langley were low amateurs in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, tying for 16th.

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So maybe we should not be surprised with this tour rookie standing out in his debut as a member, but there was another right there with him. Langley, 23, a friend and playing partner in each of the four rounds at Waialae, shot a 62 in his debut as a tour member, the best round of the week, and hung near the lead into the back nine on Sunday.

A year ago, they were playing in a Hooters Tour event together, Henley missing the cut and Langley making it on the number. "We are on the range, trying to help each other find it," Langley recalled.

On Thursday, they were walking toward the 16th green at Waialae together. "You could see the ocean behind it, PGA Tour signs everywhere," Langley said. "We looked at each other and realized this is pretty cool."

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New cardholders: The 25 newest PGA Tour members

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:37:00 GMT

By Stephen Hennessey

Starting the week at No. 44 on the Web.com Tour's money list, Justin Bolli needed to make a big move to jump the 19 spots required to earn his PGA Tour card.

How about winning the Web.com Tour Championship outright?

Bolli, 36, made his PGA Tour rookie debut in 2005, and has been a PGA Tour member for three seasons, never once keeping his status for the following year. His best PGA Tour finish was a T-5 at the 2008 AT&T Classic in Georgia.

This is the last year the top 60 on the Web.com Tour money list will play the Tour Championship in attempt of getting into the top 25. Next year, as part of the changes to the PGA Tour schedule, the top 75 from the Web.com Tour will compete in "The Finals", along with 75 PGA Tour players who don't qualify for the FedEx Cup, for another 25 spots. The top 25 players on the Web.com money list at the end of the 2013 season will clinch a card.

Justin Bolli fired a final-round 65 to clinch his fourth season on the PGA Tour. Photo by Stan Badz/PGA Tour.

Two of the more unlikely stories to earn a card out of TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas include Luke Guthrie and Ben Kohles. Both 22-year-olds and recent college graduates--Guthrie from Illinois and Kohles from Virginia--won two Web.com Tour events to lock up their cards early in the season. Kohles won two events in a row, lucking into a spot at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational, then winning the Cox Classic the next week.

Another good story is Morgan Hoffmann, who was struggling to Monday qualify for Web.com events early in the season. The former All-American at Oklahoma State finished in the top-10 in six of the last seven events of the year, including a T-3 at the Tour Championship to earn his card. A roommate of Rickie Fowler and Cameron Tringale in Jupiter, Tringale said he hadn't seen Hoffmann in months with their differences in schedule. Now the trio will be on the same schedule in 2013.

Casey Wittenberg had locked up his PGA Tour card early in 2013, winning two events before June. The 27-year-old Memphis resident also qualified for the U.S. Open, and was paired with Tiger Woods in the final round at the Olympic Club.

Fifteen of the 25 newly-minted PGA Tour cardholders will be first-time PGA Tour members.

Here's the full list:

1. Casey Wittenberg, $433,453

2. Luke Guthrie, $410,593

3. Russell Henley, $400,116

4. Luke List, $363,206

5. James Hahn, $337,530

6. Shawn Stefani, $307,371

7. Robert Streb, $305,591

8. Ben Kohles, $303,977

9. Justin Bolli, $300,924

10. David Lingmerth, $287,148

11. Justin Hicks, $277,159

12. Paul Haley II, $263,841

13. Cameron Percy, $256,238

14. Andres Gonzales, $235,505

15. Scott Gardiner, $234,145

16. Lee Williams, $223,468

17. Darron Stiles, $213,031

18. Brad Fritsch, $212,168

19. Morgan Hoffmann, $207,540

20. Brian Stuard, $205,711

21. Andrew Svoboda, $203,717

22. Nicholas Thompson, $192,751

23. Alistair Presnell, $190,567

24. Doug LaBelle II, $186,320

25. Jim Herman, $182,001

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The $600,000 match at Erin Hills

Ryan Herrington — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:58:00 GMT

ERIE, Wis.—They played the $600,000 match at Erin Hills GC Thursday afternoon during the second round of the U.S. Amateur. Somehow, it lived up to its big-money label. After five hours of tension-filled, "can-you-believe-that" action,...

Assessing the amateurs' chances at Congressional

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:24:00 GMT

BETHESDA, Md. -- Recent Georgia graduate Russell Henley has had an eventful spring, becoming only the second amateur to win a Nationwide Tour event in April and leading the Bulldogs to the finals of the NCAA Championship earlier this month. The 22-year-old from Macon, Ga., however, has a chance to accomplish something else that only two other amateur golfers have done since World War II.

Claim low amateur honors at consecutive U.S. Opens.

Henley tied with Illinois' Scott Langley for 16th at Pebble Beach a year ago. If he could repeat the feat this year at Congressional CC he would join Jack Nicklaus (1960 & 1961) and Phil Mickelson (1990 & 1991) as back-to-back low-amateur honorees.

An amateur playing on the weekend at the U.S. Open has become a relatively frequent occurrence. At least one amateur has made the cut in the major in 11 of the last 13 years and 23 of the last 31 years. Two or more amateurs have made the cut six of the past eight years.

Americans rally to claim Palmer Cup

Ryan Herrington — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:34:00 GMT

GREENWICH, Conn.—The Palmer Cup annually pits college golf's elite from the United States and Europe, but the 15th edition of the competition at The Stanwich Club came down to a match-up of Pac-10 rivals. The...

Augusta knocks off host Ok. State to reach NCAA finals

Ryan Herrington — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 22:30:00 GMT

STILLWATER, Okla.—More often than not, sequels fail to live up to the original. That wasn't the case, however, for Augusta State/Oklahoma State II at Karsten Creek GC Saturday afternoon during the semifinal round of the...

GW Monday: UGA's Henley picks up pro title

Mon, 09 May 2011 13:33:00 GMT

From this week's edition of Golf World Monday:

What did Russell Henley have to lose? That's what the Georgia All-American kept asking himself down the stretch at the Nationwide Tour's Stadion Classic.

The 22-year-old from Macon, Ga., was playing on his home course, the University of Georgia GC, after getting in the field by carrying the lowest average on the Bulldog squad. Having parlayed his local knowledge into a share of the 54-hole lead with Troy Kelly, Henley knew he'd have the support of a partisan crowd, something Georgia coach Chris Haack said the senior who graduates Friday thrives on ("It helps calm him down, seeing familiar faces in the crowd," said Haack).

This Week's Syllabus: April 21-27

Ryan Herrington — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:43:00 GMT

FAB FIVEMy look at the top five teams in the country right nowMEN1. Oklahoma State (Last week: 1)The team winning streak ended at three with the Cowboys runner-up finish at the Aggie Invitational, but Peter...

College Players of the Week, Oct. 4-10

Ryan Herrington — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:28:00 GMT

MENRussell Henley, GeorgiaThe senior claimed his first victory of the 2010-11 season, and the seventh of his collegiate career, with a four-shot triumph over Augusta State's Carter Newman at the Brickyard Collegiate Championship. The win...